


A little something

by kinskins



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Angst and Romance, Fluff and Smut, I am not proud of that trope, M/M, Miscommunication, Strangers to Lovers, apparently jicheol is bad at feelings in this one, but lots of my favs everywhere, or more like lack of communication, or more like strangers to lovers to friends to lovers, side!junhan, side!seoksoon, so many cameos different groups so I'm not going to tag them all
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-27
Updated: 2017-10-12
Packaged: 2018-11-05 14:40:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 23,130
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11015481
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kinskins/pseuds/kinskins
Summary: Jeonghan thinks Jihoon needs to hook up.Jihoon disagrees until he spots a mister nice ass in a row of his hook up candidates.





	1. -one-

**Author's Note:**

> I have no idea what happened with this one. Like seriously, I was just planning to write some sort of one-shot smut fic but then yeah, feelings happened. And I'm mad at myself that this is mostly in Jihoon's pov so ugh. UGH.

Jihoon squints his eyes at their friend group’s regular table before he gets his drink from Shua. He takes a sip and nods his appreciation to the bartender who in turn smiles gently at him and turns to tend some other customer. Jihoon holds his beer close to his body when he makes his way through the crowd and hopes no one will bump into him and make him spill his drink. He slides safely to the free spot next to Jun who is sipping his own ugly colored, probably disgustingly sweet cocktail with an umbrella. The Chinese man is observing the couple on the other side of the table to really care about Jihoon’s presence but Soonyoung at least has civility to nod at Jihoon’s direction. 

This is supposed to be boys’ night out, no boyfriends, escorts, hookers, whatever but Seokmin is there, laughing at something Soonyoung has said, his hand hidden under the table and Jihoon will skin him alive if he is holding Soonyoung’s dick, ew. 

“Where is Jeonghan?” he asks instead of getting into a murder spree, tearing his eyes away from the couple.

“He said something about bathroom.”

“Ew, if he is fucking someone there again, I will rat about it to Shua.”

“Well someone is on a bad mood today”, Jun pipes in and Jihoon gulps down half of his drink. 

“Work was shit.”

“When isn’t your work shit?” says Jeonghan who slides next to Jihoon, making that side of the booth cramped and Jihoon groans because he hates sitting between taller people and he knows Jeonghan knows it too but that doesn’t stop him from throwing his arm over Jihoon’s shoulders and making him feel even more tiny. Jun grins at him, pressing also closer to his side. Assholes. 

“That calls for more drinks, right?”

Jihoon hums, squinting his eyes again. His contact lenses are drying in his eyes (he didn’t have time to drop by home and switch them off, God, he regrets it now). 

“One more, then I’m going home.”

“You are so boring”, Jeonghan mocks and Jihoon makes a face at his direction. “No, I have a client meeting in the morning and then I have tons of work to do.” Jeonghan just rolls his eyes at him. “Bo-o-o-ring”, he drags out the syllables and Jihoon gives him a pointed look. “Not everyone has a daddy to pay their living.” Jeonghan gasps dramatically and Jun snorts into his drink. “Okay, now, let’s not go there!” Soonyong interrupts because he has seen where it can go from there. It will either end up as a) Jeonghan throwing his drink at Jihoon because he thinks Jihoon looks cute dripping wet or b) Jihoon killing them all. And he is not ready to deal with either of the outcomes. And luckily Jihoon seems to be too tired to care about a man hunt and Jeonghan too buzzed to take Jihoon’s slurs personally. Jun is still laughing thou. 

“Fine! Only beers!” 

“There we go!” Jeonghan hollers, standing and waltzes his way to the bar counter to order their drinks. Seokmin decides to follow along, just to keep taps on him. Jihoon sometimes wonders how they managed to have a ridiculous friend like Soonyoung who has managed to score a sweet, dumb and caring boyfriend like Seokmin. Soonyoung smiles at him and Jihoon smiles back. 

“So your work was shit?”

“Clients are dumb and Chanyeol managed to lose some important documents”, Jihoon rubs his eyes and Soonyoung hums sympathetically. “It’s always so stressful for you when you guys get a new client and their project to deal with.”

“Yeah, I just want to die.”

“Now, do you know what relieves stress? Sex.” Jeonghan interrupts by sliding back to the booth, throwing his arm around Jihoon’s shoulders, again. Seokmin follows with a tray full of beers. It’s always a wonder to Jihoon how fast Jeonghan always gets their drinks, be there tons of patrons before him (maybe Shua has a sixth sense for approaching drunken Jeonghan so he can prepare). 

“No, Hannie, I don’t need to get laid. I have had my fair share of that, I don’t care, it doesn’t really help with stress”, Jihoon argues, rolling his eyes. “And by the way, this is supposed to be boys’ night, so a random hook up is kind of against it.”

Jeonghan rolls his eyes, pointing at Seokmin. “He is against that too, so your argument is invalid.” Seokmin mouths ‘sorry’ to Jihoon’s direction but doesn’t look like he is when he sits next to Soonyoung, his hand again hidden under the table. Jihoon sneers at them. Assholes. 

“And boys’ nights are always full of hook ups so play along will you, darling?” Jeonghan muses and almost spills his beer when he waves his hand around. Jihoon doesn’t disagree but sometimes he just wishes they would just hang around and have good time without hooking up, he isn’t that drunk and will not be. 

“I still have work at the morning”, he tries weakly but Jeonghan doesn’t listen, his eyes scanning the crowd around them. Jihoon tries to get help from Soonyoung but the other man is whispering something to Seokmin and ugh, they are so domestic it makes Jihoon sick. He feels Jun stroke his hair behind his ear and – 

“Jun, no.”

“But an umbrella makes you look cute!”

“Fuck off!” Jihoon hums, taking the stupid umbrella from behind his ear. Jun just smiles and Jihoon wants to stab him in the eye with the wooden stick. Jeonghan interrupts his murder plans. 

“Tonight we are going to play it blinded.”

“What?” both Jun and Jihoon blurt, confused but Jeonghan ignores them and continues, turning to look at them but he is pointing towards the bar counter. “We are going to pick one of those ordering drinks. You see only their backside, and if they manage to turn around before you name your pick, they don’t count.”

Jihoon rolls his eyes at Jeonghan.

“Oh, that is exciting!” Seokmin grins and almost bounces on his seat (now Soonyoung’s hand is under the table and Jihoon squints at him). Jihoon makes a face but plays along and turns to look at people ordering by the counter. There is couple of girls Jihoon dismisses and pouts at the remaining four men. None of them make him wish they would turn around, not until he notices the one chatting with Shua. His mouth goes dry. 

Jeonghan hums, knowingly. “Made your choice?”

“The one chatting with Shua.”

Jun giggles. Jeonghan is sliding away from Jihoon, his hand gently tucking him along by the wrist and Jihoon feels suddenly so giddy. It’s not the first time Jeonghan will introduce him to someone neither of them knows but something about the man they are approaching, makes him nervous. He has wide, board shoulders and a nice ass and he is about a head taller than Jihoon, his hair is black (and now when they are closer, a bit curly too, Jihoon notes).

Jeonghan pushes himself in between their target and some other stranger on his other side, pulling Jihoon closer. The stranger doesn’t spare any attention to them, not until Shua turns to look at them, apparently waiting Jeonghan to order something. But Jeonghan’s eyes are on the man in front him and Jihoon feels giddy when Jeonghan starts.

“Hey you, do you have a moment?” 

The stranger turns and blinks at them, obviously a bit confused. Jeonghan smiles wider. 

“Have you met my friend Jihoon?” 

Oh fuck. Jihoon knows that tone, that tone Jeonghan gets when he himself is interested in someone but he tries to ignore it because why the heck Jeonghan wouldn’t be interested, the man in front of them is so freaking handsome Jihoon wants to die. He isn’t the classical kind of handsome, like Jun is, but he is, handsome. Gorgeous. His eyes are dark and round, mouth and lips full and soooooo kissable and the haircut really suits him, the fringe curling, almost hiding his eyes. 

He is pulled out from his musing when the man speaks, his tone low and confused. 

“Uh, no? Why?” 

Jihoon is lost again. The man sounds truly amazing and Jihoon licks his lips nervously when the stranger’s eyes land on him. Jihoon tries not be distracted by man’s handsome face so he just shrugs, trying to compose himself. 

“It’s just I kept complaining too much how bored I was with all the couples around so Jeonghan wanted—“

“That’s me!” Jeonghan pushes Jihoon a gently, away from him and Jihoon resists the urge to throw his hands up as a sign of surrender. He doesn’t thou, he only rolls his eyes and is ready to slide back to the table, not really listening what the other two are saying. Until…

“So, what kind of drink your friend Jihoon would like to have?”

Jihoon sputters because the man is looking at him over Jeonghan’s shoulder and suddenly it feels so surreal, like who the fuck would choose him if they could get Jeonghan, like how?? But there is mirth in the other man’s eyes as he watches Jihoon who is nothing but flustered. 

“What… what I would like to drink?”

The man nods, signaling to Shua (who has actually been following their encounter for the whole time). “I will pay.” Jihoon moves to sit at the stool next to the man. Jeonghan has moved away at this point and Jihoon doesn’t give a fuck where to but the point is, he is not there to block his view of the gorgeous stranger. 

The stranger orders beers for both of them and Jihoon is content with that. Shua smiles at him when he gives him his drink and Jihoon takes a hold of it with both of his hands. The stranger keeps smiling at him and it makes him nervous, a solid cold glass under his fingers keeps him somewhat rooted. 

“So, Jeonghan’s friend Jihoon, how was your day? Apart from being bored around couples.” Jihoon is sure there is mockery somewhere but he decides to ignore.

“Work. It’s really stressful nowadays.”

The man hums, sipping his beer, his eyes on Jihoon. It’s a bit awkward and Jihoon tries to think anything to say, oh God, he is so bad with small talk, that’s why Chanyeol always does it at work.

“How was your day?”

“What’s your favorite dessert?”

They blink at each other and Jihoon smiles, relaxing. The other man grins, nodding his head. “My day was quite nice actually.” “And my favorite dessert is… ah, well, I like mixing black bean sauce with spicy ramyun noodles mix.” “That sounds kind of delicious. Not too spicy.” “Yeah, I don’t really like spicy food.” “Oh, I can’t stand spicy food either!” the stranger’s smile is wide and the row of teeth look so good that Jihoon wants to punch himself. Jihoon hopes he didn’t get momentary lost into the stranger’s dimples and stare. 

“Okay, winter or summer?” 

“Winter.” “Oh wow, I like my weather warm, so summer.”

Jihoon sniggers. “Iron man or Captain America?”

The man gasps. “Oh no, don’t tell me we are battling in different teams?”

“Tony Stark all the way.”

The stranger laughs and Jihoon follows his hand with his gaze as it fishes out a phone with a print of familiar blue, red and white. Jihoon snorts. 

“We are doomed.”

“Yes we are. My name is Seungcheol, by the way.” He offers his hand and Jihoon takes it. 

“Jihoon. Which you already knew.”

The man, Seungcheol hums, smiling. “Can I order you another drink?” and Jihoon nods, pushing his now empty glass away from himself (when he had time to drink that, oh god). They consume one more drink before Seungcheol starts ordering water for himself and Jihoon kind of feels bad for getting more and more beers so he orders tea when he finishes the fifth beer. He doesn’t miss the somewhat relief sag of Seungcheol’s shoulders when Shua pushes the steaming mug to him. 

“Are you driving?” Jihoon asks when there is a pause in their conversation (which has consisted of mostly on topics like movies, food and co-workers), nodding towards Seungcheol’s water glass. Seungcheol hums, nodding, swirling the drink in his hand. 

“Yeah and I wasn’t planning to stay this long actually, I have early shift tomorrow… well, technically today.”

And Jihoon feels even worse but something inside him makes him pleased because the man stayed for him, to chat with him. But he has tact and apologies anyway. Seungcheol shrugs it off. 

“It’s fine, I have enjoyed my time with you.”

Jihoon hopes he doesn’t blush too much but from the way Seungcheol’s lips curve slyly and how his cheeks feel hot, he has done exactly that. “Ah, well, I enjoyed my time with you too. I actually have a client meeting too, today.” “Then maybe it would be proper to call it night.” 

Jihoon hopes his disappointment doesn’t show but then Seungcheol is asking if he would like to walk him to his car. Jihoon isn’t sure if it’s an invitation for more or just… a walk to the car but he says yes anyway and they finish their drinks. Jihoon doesn’t cast a look on his friends when they leave and because he doesn’t hear a loud whistle, he assumes they have other things to do than follow his movements. 

It’s not that cold outside and Seungcheol keeps the conversation going, again, some light topics such as travelling or something about the shops they pass by. Jihoon enjoys his company and he really wishes that the walk to Seungcheol’s car is long but it ends even before it can properly start. Seungcheol stops by a nice red SUV and turns to Jihoon who almost crashes into the taller man. 

“Hey, you okay?”

“Yeah, I wasn’t looking were I was going”, Jihoon lets out a nervous laugh, _too busy admiring your backside man, what a nice and wide backside_ , he thinks. Seungcheol smiles at him, fishing out his car keys and phone from his jacket pockets. 

“I had fun talking with you. Let’s take another round some other time?” He licks his lips and looks down at his phone. When the silence stretches, Jihoon realizes that a handsome man like Seungcheol can actually be nervous to ask his number. He grins and maybe because he has so many beers under his belt he takes Seungcheol’s phone without asking, it slips easily away from the other man’s fingers. Jihoon taps in his information.

“Call or message me whenever.”

Seungcheol takes his phone back with a relieved slump of his shoulders. “I will.” He sets the keys in the lock and Jihoon bites his lip. 

“Okay, I will be going then”, Jihoon shrugs, waving his hand towards the bar they exited. 

“Drive safely!”

He feels awkward, why did he agree on walking Seungcheol here, oh god, this is going to get so awkward, so he tries a hasty retreat. Seungcheol hums, looking down at his phone and Jihoon bites his tongue wondering bitterly if the other man got a message or something but then he feels his phone to vibrate inside his pocket. It’s an unknown number but before Jihoon can reject it, Seungcheol speaks.

“Yeah, now you have my number too, so call whenever.”

 

\-------

 

When Jihoon gets back inside the bar (after awkward waving when Seungcheol had finally gotten inside and driven away) he is surprised to see Jeonghan still loitering around. But then again, maybe the fuckers he calls his friends have left him out of important information because Jeonghan’s hand is way too up on Jun’s thigh to be a let’s-not-fuck-tonight-way. 

“Hoonie! Why are you here? I saw you leave with some handsome man!” Seokmin pipes up, waking Jeonghan and Jun from their whispering giggles back to the reality (Jeonghan’s hand leaves). Jihoon hums.

“I walked him to his car. He said he has early morning shift.”

“Lies” Jeonghan retorts, leaning away from Jun to coax Jihoon to sit down. Jihoon stays standing.

“We exchanged numbers.”

Soonyoung is grinning at him. “So you had fun! That’s great! You never seem to have fun.” The last part he says while pouting and Jihoon wonders briefly, if Soonyoung takes it personally that he always leaves early. He sighs and smiles. “Yeah, I had fun.” 

“Where is my thank you? I introduced you to him!” Jeonghan demands and Jihoon rolls his eyes, flexing his shoulders. “Yeah, and you tried to hit on him while doing so.” “Minor details”, Jeonghan waves his hand and Jun snorts. 

“We were about to leave, do you want us to give you a lift or..?” Seokmin asks and Jihoon shakes his head. “It’s okay, it’s not that late yet. I will take a rail to home.” They say their goodbyes to Jun and Jeonghan who order a next set of drinks. Jihoon almost asks about them from Soonyoung but because the other man seems not to be concerned so he doesn’t.

His phone beeps because of a notice when he reaches home. It’s about a morning meeting and Jihoon rubs his eyes when he finally gets to take off the contact lenses. If he is lucky, he will get good sleep before it but if he is not lucky, he will spend his night rolling around in bed, sleeplessly.

Maybe it’s because of the beers he had or the relaxing metro ride or maybe it was because of Seungcheol’s gently smiles, but when he finally hits the soft mattresses, he is asleep in a record time. 

 

\----

 

He manages to sleep in and Junhyung gives him the most unamused look when he rushes through the company doors. 

“I’m so sorry, fuck, has it already started?”

The other man leans backwards from his table, hands stilled on the keyboard. “Not yet, I think Chanyeol made up some excuses for you.” “Oh fuck, he will make me pay for his lunch because of this”, Jihoon wails and there is a hint of a smile on Junhyung’s face. Jihoon waves his hand as a goodbye and Junhyung wishes him luck, so Jihoon takes a detour by the vending machine (instant coffee will do). He fishes out his phone while waiting his coffee to be ready and bites down his lip. He types out a text and sends it before he can back down. 

When he reaches to the room 4, his phone informs him of an upcoming message. 

 

**Nice Ass Seungcheol:**  
_Good luck with your meeting! Mine is boring as hell! *sad emoji*_

 

Jihoon smiles, puts the phone away and pushes the door open, ready to deal with a customer demanding too much.

 

\----

 

Chanyeol indeed makes him pay for his lunch and Yoongi tags along just to get laughs out of it. Junhyung sips his Coke with a straw and Jihoon hates his co-workers. But without them his job would suck even more. 

They are half-way done with their lunches when Yoongi suddenly snatches Jihoon’s phone (which has been lying next to his arm on the table). 

“Hey!”

“You never have this out! Are you waiting for some messages hmm?” the older man hums, sliding the phone open (Jihoon never bothered with a password or whatever, now he regrets it). 

“No! I mean, maybe?”

Chanyeol leans closer and Junhyung pretends not to care but he cranes his neck a bit to see what Yoongi is doing with the phone. Yoongi munches his salad and Jihoon waits the verdict.

“Oh. Who is this Nice Ass Seungcheol?”

Jihoon opens his mouth and then closes it. The others are waiting. They know Jihoon’s four friends by their names because Jihoon whines about them quite a lot so an unknown name in his message board must have made Yoongi question it. Jihoon clears his throat.

“I met him through a friend.” Not a lie, not really. 

“You were out yesterday.”

It’s not a question and Jihoon hums. “So what?”

“Do one night stands exchange numbers?” Chanyeol mock-wonders and Jihoon tries to swat him. 

“But what if it wasn’t just a one night stand?” Yoongi muses and Jihoon rolls his eyes, feeling his ears burn. “Knock it off guys. We just chatted, nothing happened.”

“Nothing happened? Well, something must have clicked. I mean, you wouldn’t have his number otherwise!” Yoongi muses and Jihoon rolls his eyes. “Okay, he was fun and not bad to look at.” “So are you going to call him for another… chit-chat?” Junhyung asks and Jihoon shrugs. He hasn’t really thought that far ahead. From the beginning it was supposed to be a hook up, nothing more really, but now that they just chatted, that plan was blown away. Or maybe the exchange of numbers was a reason to actually do the hooking up on a later point of time. Jihoon doesn’t really know and he isn’t sure how to figure it out. Jihoon stops his inner musings when he notices Yoongi’s eyes to widen a bit while he is still holding Jihoon’s phone. Before Jihoon can ask, the other man grins at him slyly and then he hears his ring-tone and then Yoongi is already answering the upcoming call.

“Yoongi on Jihoon’s phone, he is busy with his lunch.”

Jihoon tries to launch at Yoongi from the other side of the table but Yoongi leans back, humming at whatever whoever answers.

“Hmm okay? Do you want me to give him some sort of message or something?” 

Yoongi is holding his fork between his teeth while listening whoever is on the end of line to answer.

“Ah, okay, but what’s the deal between you and Jihoon?” Then he grins and Jihoon fears. “ _Seungcheol_ , if you don’t mind me asking because he has a heart after your name on—“ 

Yoongi never finishes his sentence because Jihoon really climbs on the table and fights the phone away from the other man’s hand. Chanyeol is laughing, crying and coughing and Junhyung is trying to save him from choking and Jihoon glares at Yoongi before he realizes that the call hasn’t been cut yet.

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry! My co-workers are shit, I have no idea why I almost consider them as friends!” 

_“Jihoon?”_

“Yes! And I don’t have a heart after your name! I wouldn’t be that lame, hyung is lying!” 

Yoongi is cackling and Jihoon flips him off, his heart thumbing loudly in his ears. Seungcheol’s laugh makes Jihoon’s cheeks burn, it’s low and happy.

_“I would be really honored if you really have a heart after my name.”_

Jihoon makes a sound similar of dying animal and the rest of guys around him burst into laughter again. Seungcheol on the end of the line hums. _“I will call you later, when you are not busy?”_

“Pftss s-sounds good!” Jihoon sputters and Seungcheol ends the call after wishing him good day. Jihoon tries to hit Yoongi but the older man is too far away but Jihoon gets some satisfactory from the way Yoongi almost falls off from the bench. 

“I can’t believe you!” 

“It’s about the time you get some action, young one”, Yoongi muses and Jihoon sneers at him. He leaves it to that because Yoongi is being nice with him, a heart after a name makes Jihoon sound sweeter than Nice Ass before a name. They finish up their lunches and return to the office. Jihoon and Junhyung stop by a coffee shop near the office building. Dahye’s smile widens when she spots them and Jihoon nudges Junhyung who sneers at him but moves forward and deals with their order, Jihoon is there to help carry the drinks anyway. 

“Have you already asked her number?” Jihoon asks when they exit the café and Junhyung just smiles unamused at him. He probably has, considering that Jihoon once caught them talking about broken hearts (apparently both of them had broken off their respective relationships around the same time). 

Jihoon’s phone vibrates when he is finally at his desk with his steaming coffee and ready to fill the report of the morning meeting. He is lucky he isn’t drinking because he sputters at the message with a picture attached to it. 

 

**Nice Ass Seungcheol:**  
_This makes me pretty lame but are you up for a coffee date later?_

 

The picture is a screen cap, apparently of Seungcheol’s phone’s contact information list, Jihoon’s name edited as Jihoonnie <3 

 

\------

 

Their coffee date gets moved to the next week because Jihoon really needs to finish the report and start working with the project and as supporting as Yoongi is, he won’t let Jihoon slack off work because of some romance. 

That doesn’t stop them from texting back and ford daily, something trivial usually, like how boring a meeting is or how much they need coffee. Nothing too personal, not yet but Jihoon feels somewhat happy about their communication. Yoongi smiles at him knowingly and Jihoon ignores him and Jeonghan too, who apparently learns from somewhere about his dialog with Seungcheol, and keeps asking if he got laid yet. 

Jihoon doesn’t plan on getting laid, not yet, it’s way too soon anyway considering the nation of their relationship at that point but when their coffee date actually happens, Jihoon prays all the gods above and below to let him get laid tonight. 

He spots Seungcheol waiting outside the café when he is about a block away. And damn the man looks so gorgeous Jihoon wants to dish the date and just… he doesn’t even know. Anything! Seungcheol is looking down at his phone, his jacket flung casually over his shoulder and he holds it with his other hand. He has a white t-shirt _(ohmygod)_ tucked into his jeans at the front and the jeans! Jihoon would pay to get his hands on the belt loops and just pull them down. 

Jihoon misses the first green light because he just stares and then when he waits the lights to turn green again, Seungcheol lifts his head, bites his bottom lip and looks around. And then their eyes meet and Jihoon feels so ugly with his ugly unfitting suit and he wants to cry. But Seungcheol’s face brightens up and he straightens up his posture too, smiling at his direction. (Jihoon misses the green light, again.)

“Hey! You made it!” 

Jihoon feels breathless without a reason when he finally manages to cross the road. He tries to smile but he feels so conscious of himself suddenly when Seungcheol moves into his space, like an eager puppy. 

“Yeah, hey. Sorry I made you wait.”

“It’s okay. We could have moved this if your job—“

“No!” Jihoon interrupts. “No, I wanted to really meet you and…” Seungcheol blinks at him and Jihoon yells inside his head and opens his mouth to say anything (probably something stupid) but Seungcheol beats him. The taller man hums, smiling. “Well, good to know I wasn’t the only one wanting to meet again.” His hand is suddenly on the low of Jihoon back, ushering him to enter the café. Jihoon could melt into a bundle of goo, really. 

They order (they both pay) and Jihoon devours the sandwich fast, he hasn’t realized how hungry he was. Seungcheol is having a cup of coffee and a chocolate muffin which he hasn’t touched yet. 

“So what you do for living? I assume some sort of office job because you are wearing a suit…”

Jihoon nods, his mouth still full of bread. “Yeah, it’s a big company, dealing with advertisements and music scene and I do kind of lots of stuff from meeting clients, consulting, branding, coffee making, odd jobs.” Seungcheol hums. “You like it?” Jihoon shrugs. “It’s okay, pays well and hyungs aren’t really that bad.” 

“Oh, the one who answered your phone…Yoongi?”

“Ah, he was my mentor when I started. He is cool.” 

Seungcheol nods, sipping his coffee. Jihoon reaches for his own coffee. “And you? You can’t be some sort of a model or something?” The laugh that bubbles out of Seungcheol mouth makes Jihoon’s stomach have butterflies and he wants nothing more than reach over the table and kiss the other man. 

“No?”

“No, even thou I am flattered you think that I could be a model but no”, Seungcheol keeps giggling and fuck Jihoon’s life, really. “I’m animal center manager, actually.” Jihoon blinks. “Really?” Seungcheol smiles. “Yep. I actually studied business administration in school but I don’t know, the typical white collar job really didn’t sit well with me so I took some animal science alongside and worked my summers in a nearby animal center. And here I’m, having a career in one.” 

Jihoon tries hard but a smile creeps into his face. “I can actually imagine you to be good with animals.” Seungcheol nods his appreciation. “Yeah, animals are wonderful.” “Do you have any pets?” Jihoon asks curiously and Seungcheol shakes his head. “My current apartment doesn’t allow pets so no. I would love to have a dog one day. You?” Jihoon shakes his head. “I’m too busy to actually have time to take care of one.” “Understandable. You want a refill?” He motions towards Jihoon’s now empty coffee cup. 

Jihoon watches when Seungcheol’s walks away to get their refills (he tries to convince himself that he isn’t staring Seungcheol’s ass but who is he kidding, no one). Jihoon could bet his moneys on the fact that Seungcheol does it purposely, the tilt of a hip when he is pouring the coffee into their cups. Jihoon turns his attention to the untouched muffin when Seungcheol turns around again. He isn’t ready to get caught of staring.

He gets the answer of why the muffin has been left untouched when Seungcheol is back at their table and offers a spoon at him. “Let’s share the muffin, okay?” Who is Jihoon to say no to that smiling face? He takes the spoon and waits Seungcheol to settle back down on his chair. 

“Do you want to split it half or do we just… devour it?”

“Devouring sounds pleasing”, Seungcheol says, low and Jihoon gulps, trying to focus on the muffin in front of them but the way Seungcheol’s tongue peeks between his lips makes Jihoon nervous. It’s a good muffin but Jihoon can’t really focus on the taste or texture of it because Seungcheol knows what he is doing with his spoon and okay, that wasn’t an accidental, the gentle brush of feet against Jihoon’s when their eyes meet. 

“Tasty?”

“I,” Jihoon starts but his voice cracks and the corner of Seungcheol’s lips twitch upwards. Jihoon clears his throat. “I’m definitely enjoying.” Seungcheol leans back and lets Jihoon have the last bite. “Good.”

Jihoon almost chokes on it because Seungcheol’s feet definitely did a little caressing there. 

And Jihoon really, really hopes that the gods have heard his prayers because Seungcheol offers to drive him home and Jihoon will be a fucking fool not to take the change. The drive to Jihoon’s flat is chatty but Jihoon shakes his legs nervously and from the way Seungcheol holds the steering wheel, Jihoon knows he isn’t the only one with his lustful thoughts.  
Seungcheol stops his car by the curb and turns to Jihoon who doesn’t make any movements to get rid of the seat belt around his body. 

“I had fun today.”

“Yeah, me too”, Jihoon murmurs, glancing at Seungcheol who is looking at him with a soft smile and Jihoon wonders if it’s okay to kiss him. He takes sharp intake of air, his hand stopping by the slot, not unfastening the belt. The silence is somewhat awkward but then it’s not, it’s like they both are trying to feel the mood, the right moment to say whatever they want to say. Jihoon lets his finger to push the buckle and the belt slides along his body. Seungcheol shifts in his seat and Jihoon turns fully towards the taller man behind the wheel. 

He is closer than Jihoon anticipated. 

“Can I kiss you?”

“Do you want to come up?”

They stare at each other before they both snigger stupidly and Jihoon feels his face to heat up. Seungcheol unbuckles himself and takes a hold of Jihoon’s face with both of his hands. 

“I thought you would never ask.”

The kiss tastes like coffee and chocolate and Jihoon loves the way Seungcheol’s hand slides into his hair, fingers curling around his nape. They get as far as the corridor table right next to the door. Seungcheol hoists Jihoon up to it, his hands on Jihoon’s ass and fuckfuckfuck Jihoon hits his head against the wall when he casts it, letting Seungcheol’s mouth trail a path from his lips to his jaw and all the way to his collarbone and yes, he does moan quite loud when Seungcheol’s dips his tongue in a hollow there. 

“I want to make you feel good”, Seungcheol rasps against his throat, Jihoon’s body shivering. He tries to answer anything remotely smart but all he gets out from his mouth is a breathless grunt. 

Seungcheol smirks up at him and the air gets caught in Jihoon’s lungs when he lowers himself and,yes, Seungcheol blows Jihoon there, against the most ugliest corridor table ever but Jihoon doesn’t care. One of his legs is flung over Seungcheol’s shoulder and Jihoon hands are in Seungcheol’s hair, tugging and messing it. 

And Seungcheol makes him feel so good and Jihoon just slumps against the wall, blinking at Seungcheol who is still kneeling between his legs, smiling lazily up at him oh so seductively, his left hand still holding onto his thigh. Jihoon hates to admit it but after a great treatment like that, he isn’t that confident with his mouth so he rewards Seungcheol with a hand job by the couch. He knows he is good with his hands and by the shameless moans that leave Seungcheol’s mouth, he is pretty sure the taller man agrees. 

 

\------

 

“Hiyo~”

It’s always a mystery how a clumsy mess Yoongi becomes when a certain member from the marketing marches into their humble floor. This time the older man crashes the pile of papers to the floor and when he hastily leans down to pick them up, Yoongi hits his forehead against the desk and then proceeds to fall off from his chair. 

Junhyung and Jihoon share a look when Yoongi curses loudly about his slowly death as Jin rushes to him. 

“Yoongs! Are you alright?” 

They don’t hear what Yoongi crumbles at the tall man. 

“He is a love fool,” Junhyung groans and Jihoon hums. “Why hasn’t he confessed already?” Junhyung snorts. “Because Seokjin is either dumb or just not interested in him.” Jihoon pouts and casts a look at the couple. Yoongi seems to have collected himself and is now nagging about something to the taller man who is laughing brightly. Now that he looks closer he can actually see that Seokjin is keeping his distance to Yoongi whose body language is clear as ever. 

Love works mysterious ways.

“Shouldn’t it be easier for him to confess?”

Junhyung rolls his eyes. “It’s Yoongi’s own problem if he does not. I don’t know if he has or hasn’t. You should ask him, not me.” Jihoon hums and Junhyung turns back at his own work. Jihoon bites his lips before he also tunes out the common hustle and bustle of the office. 

His phone shakes nearby and Jihoon slides the screen to see the message. When it’s not from Seungcheol, Jihoon grits his teeth. He doesn’t know for sure why he feels like this, it’s only like one day and half from their coffee date, and they haven’t really texted afterwards. Seungcheol didn’t stay for the night because of early work hours and Jihoon lived quite far away from the animal center. But they kissed as goodbye and Seungcheol told him that he would text Jihoon later. But he hasn’t. 

And now that Jihoon thinks about it, if it really was just a deal of one night deal (but they really did not get into the actual fucking yet!!) then Jihoon should just move on. But something doesn’t let him. Jihoon had fun with Seungcheol and Jihoon knows he is smitten by the taller, boarder man. He is just his type and Jihoon groans. This is why he doesn’t hook up.  
Jihoon spaces out and Yoongi slaps him hard on shoulders when it’s time to go out to eat lunch. 

“You are slacking off.”

“Sorry.”

Jihoon follows his hyungs out and they decide to go the park where they know is more food trucks than you could count with your fingers so everyone can get what they wanted. Jihoon ventures to the Mexican stand even thou he doesn’t care about the spices but he wants to dull the stupid ache of feelings with burning in his fire. 

It’s not long into their lunches when Jihoon gets a message. 

He expects to be some work related so he almost just wipes it away from his notifications but then he catches the sender’s name and he blinks, his mouth’s movements slowing down. Jihoon stares at his phone his eyes wide. It’s a clear question from Seungcheol, if he and his co-worker could join their table. Jihoon snaps his head up, almost drops his food and without missing a beat, dials Seungcheol’s number. Yoongi casts a questioning look at him when he starts to look around, trying to spot the other man among the crowd around them. When Seungcheol answers, he doesn’t miss a beat either.

_“By the burger truck.”_

Jihoon swirls around and yep, there he is, staring right at him, smiling and waving. Seungcheol looks gorgeous, he is wearing all black this time and it too looks good on him. Jihoon lifts his hand without thinking, waving and Seungcheol giggles. _“Your co-workers are staring.”_

Jihoon screeches and drops the phone. Chanyeol cackles at him and Junhyung and Yoongi share a look. “Is it him, the Seungcheol guy?” 

“Nghh yeah?” Jihoon hums, leaning down to get his phone. Yoongi taps the table with his fingers. 

“Is he joining us?”

“If it’s okay?” The call hasn’t been cut and Jihoon is sure Seungcheol is hearing it all. Yoongi’s smile is dangerous. “It’s more than okay, welcome him.” Jihoon gulps but does exactly that. 

Seungcheol is as polite as ever, he smiles gently at all of them and even Junhyung momentary forgets to be stoic. Seungcheol’s co-worker’s name is Baekhyun and he is just a novice in the field.

“What were you doing around here?” Jihoon asks when Seungcheol sits down next to him and starts to devour his burger. “A home checking. A couple wants a dog from us but because it’s a rescue dog, we need to make sure the home is safe.” Seungcheol sounds a bit tensed and Jihoon hums. “It wasn’t?” “It was, kind of, but the people living around here tend to think a little bit selfishly and not to see the certain things we see.”

“So are you saying rich people are ignorant?” Yoongi challenges and Jihoon just hopes he would just shut his mouth. Seungcheol hums. “Not all of them of course. But the dog in question has some history with loud sounds and this area isn’t that quiet.” Yoongi nods, leaning a back a bit.

“So you work with rescue animals?” 

“Yeah.” Seungcheol gives Yoongi a curious look. “Are you considering adopting?”

Yoongi hums around his fork. “Maybe. Is there any small ones?” Seungcheol grins and fishes out his business card. “Contact us anytime and we’ll arrange a seeing.” Yoongi gives his own card in exchange and suddenly Jihoon feels an urgent need to have Seungcheol’s card too but that would be super weird to ask one. His eyes follow Yoongi’s hand when the other man puts the card away, wondering if he could try stealing it later. 

Jihoon chit-chats with Seungcheol about anything and nothing for the rest of the lunch. It all comes kind of naturally to them and Jihoon is pleased to notice the small smiles on Seungcheol’s face when he says something particularly witty. Yoongi rolls his eyes at him when Seungcheol is distracted by Junhyung and nostalgic songs about lost love. Jihoon flips Yoongi off behind Seungcheol’s back as they both roll their eyes at Chaneyol who is super awkward with Seungcheol’s co-worker who just smiles politely at the taller man. When it’s time to leave, Jihoon feels Seungcheol’s hand on his neck, squishing gently. They slow down a bit and Jihoon watches almost like in a slow motion how their co-workers draw away from the table. 

“I’m happy we shared a lunch today.” Seungcheol doesn’t quite whisper but the sound is low enough to get shivers run down Jihoon’s spine.

“Me too, it wasn’t as horrible as I thought it would have been. I mean, Yoongi can be mean.”

“Hmm it has been said that I melt the meanest people.”

Jihoon laughs and turns a bit so that Seungcheol’s hand slides to the side of his neck and the taller man seems to get the idea, his thumb brushing against Jihoon jaw and cheek and then they are kissing. It’s lazy and soft and sweet and Jihoon actually sighs contently when Seungcheol pulls away. He doesn’t want to go back to work, he just wants to melt into Seungcheol’s touch. 

“Hey, meet up tonight?”

“Can’t, we have a client dinner.”

“Afterwards?”

“I have no idea when it will end.”

Seungcheol makes a strangled sound. “Call me, I don’t care how late, I…” he takes a deep breath and the air gets caught into Jihoon’s lungs when their eyes meet. “I want you so badly.”

Jihoon sneaks out from the dinner party after he is sure Junhyung will actually deal with the men around him (the somewhat shy and stoic co-worker of his is actually a party person). 

The first round happens against the goddamn front door of Seungcheol’s apartment and Jihoon isn’t sure if he has ever felt so spend from grinding and kissing and biting. He probably has bite marks all the way down from his collarbones to his chest and lower (Seungcheol took his sweet time to open his shirt, button by button, kiss by kiss.) Seungcheol’s want is almost unbearable but Jihoon wants the same. Seungcheol’s couch is so much comfortable than Jihoon’s own and he melts into it, Seungcheol hovering over him, settling between Jihoon legs and Jihoon moans, his upper body arching up from the couch when Seungcheol grinds down. 

The second round includes lots of fingers, and in the end Jihoon isn’t sure which ones are his and which ones are Seungcheol’s, but hell, the burn is amazing, more of fire of pleasure than pain. Jihoon didn’t even know he could enjoy fingering so much but maybe everything is tons of more intense with Seungcheol than with anyone he has been before. Or maybe it was because of their good rhythm and how in sync they were with their movement, Seungcheol’s fingers brushing in and out firmly, curling in right times while Jihoon tugs and pumps Seungcheol to his climax. 

It’s the first when Jihoon wakes up from the bed not his and feels actually pretty damn fine. 

 

\----

 

They text to each other a lot and Jihoon learns many things about Seungcheol (like that he is originally from Busan, has two older brothers and he took his first ear piercing when he was thirteen). It’s still trivial matters, how Seungcheol failed making good coffee that morning or how Jihoon hates the printer in the second floor. 

It’s always somewhat exciting to text about a meet-up and then somewhere between appetizers and desserts an act of footsie might start or Seungcheol’s tongue does things with the food it’s not supposed to do in a fancy restaurant like that. Flirting is great, almost as pleasing as the sex itself. 

Seungcheol is great, sex is great and Jihoon is content with what they have, it’s easy and fun. For their third “date” they actually make it to the bed and Jihoon gets to show off his tongue skills, finally. They also find their inner love for the semi public quickies in a fancy restaurant’s restroom. For their fifth meet-up Jihoon finally gets Seungcheol’s cock inside him, and Seungcheol fucks him hard and harsh but Jihoon doesn’t mind, his fingers gripping the pillow, shameless moans leaving his mouth. Seungcheol mouths his jaw with his lips and Jihoon thinks he doesn’t need more. They fuck inside Seungcheol’s car one night (it’s messy and they were basically giggling through it, heads hitting the roof and window frames). 

What they have is fun and Jihoon enjoys it.

But even if Soonyoung gives him a pointed look when he denies it, Jihoon wouldn’t call Seungcheol a booty-call. 

Maybe a friend with benefits would suffice if anyone (Jeonghan or Soonyoung) would want a more detailed story of their relationship. Jihoon doesn’t remember having a friend with benefits before, all his casual sex partners in the college had been mostly one night deals, so he isn’t that sure what to feel about this. 

But whatever they have, it seems to work. 

It doesn’t really bother Jihoon because he doesn’t think more deeply into what they are or what they have, no, not until Yoongi is leaning against the doorframe of the coffee room where Jihoon is groaning against the table, and asks: “Hey, Lee, want to accompany me to the animal center? I’m going to check what kind of dogs they have.” 

Jihoon doesn’t really have time to progress what Yoongi is suggesting until he is already sitting in Yoongi’s car and they are driving towards the animal center. 

“Wait, what? Should I inform him I’m coming?!”

Yoongi casts him a sideway glance. “I have an appointment so it’s fine.”

“But does he know I’m coming too?!” 

Jihoon doesn’t know why but he feels so frantic and nervous, and he realizes that he and Seungcheol never really meet without a plan of having a great night including mind-blowing sex. And it suddenly makes Jihoon feel anxious. Yoongi just rolls his eyes. 

“Relax, this isn’t the first time you will see.”

“No but. Like. Without sex.”

Yoongi sputters. “You…what? Is he like your booty call or..?”

“No! Or is he? Am I his?” Jihoon groans, hiding his face behind his hand. Yoongi makes an incoherent sound. 

“I kind of thought you guys were like… dating?”

“I… We don’t?”

Yoongi looks like he wants to smack Jihoon or himself or anything but he is driving and Yoongi is a responsible driver so all he does is to let out a groan. 

“Christ Jihoon! You have been going on like… what, four months? And you still don’t know what your relationship with him is?”

Jihoon opens his mouth but Yoongi has a point and Jihoon feels like a moron for not caring.  
“Well, I’m not turning back or dropping you off anywhere, this will be hell awkward but I want to check the dogs so be a man”, Yoongi grunts and Jihoon nods, fiddling with his cuffs. “You can chit-chat the hell out of him and even get a blowjob or—“ “Hyung!” “—in the back room but, you are coming with me.” Jihoon groans and turns to look out of the window. He tries not to think about Seungcheol or what he is wearing for work or if Seungcheol will be surprised to see him or how Jihoon will himself do when he will see the other man. 

And if Jihoon is being honest with himself, he holds his breath in when Yoongi parks the car outside the building. The walk to the door is horrible, Jihoon feels like fainting and now when he doesn’t see Seungcheol in the lobby and behind the counter it feels actually so much freer to let the air out from his lungs. Yoongi casts him a worried look. They hear dogs barking somewhere deeper in the center, some cats are meowing and some kid laughs. 

“You okay?”

Jihoon doesn’t have a change to answer because someone steps outside from the door behind the desk and smiles widely, his mouth stretching almost comically, at them. Yoongi blinks, slowly.

“Hey! How can I help you?”

“We…I mean, I have a meeting with Choi Seungcheol”, Yoongi moves forward, tucking Jihoon along. “My name is Min Yoongi.”

“Ah? For the Snow White”, the man behind the counter grins even more. “He is a lovely dog really, deserves a good home. My name is Taehyung and I will help you with that!”

“Oh. Taehyung, okay. Where… where is Seungcheol?”

Taehyung keeps smiling, like the act is so natural to him. He rounds the desk and signals them to follow. ”Seungcheol got an urgent call from the police, we will have bunch of kittens coming in soon. It’s pretty exciting, we haven’t had kittens in ages!” 

Seungcheol isn’t there. 

Jihoon feels betrayed. 

 

\-----

 

They doesn’t manage to stay long enough to see Seungcheol or the kittens coming in but Yoongi falls in love with a small white bundle of soft fur and a button nose. Taehyung invites him for a second seeing later the week and when Yoongi offers to drop Jihoon off at home, he asks the man to drive him to the Pledis. Yoongi doesn’t ask, just tells him not to come to work hang-over. 

Jihoon can always trust that someone is at Pledis and this time Soonyoung is there, laughing with someone Jihoon doesn’t know but as soon as he spots Jihoon, he leaves them.

“Hey! Fancy seeing you here on Tuesday!”

“I have crisis.”

“Okay? Drinks on me?”

“Please.”

Soonyoung buys them something fancy, with plain straws and Jihoon sucks more than he should in go. Soonyoung’s shoulders tense a bit. 

“Is this work related?”

“No… this… is Seungcheol related.”

“Oh, your booty call.”

“He is… not my booty call”, Jihoon groans, pressing his eyes with the heel of his hands. He feels suddenly so overwhelmed, like something wants to crash down on him and make him crumble. Like the world is too ridiculous to deal with. 

“Okay? But from what I have gathered, you only meet up for some dinner and sex, right?”

“Yes! But!” Jihoon feels like crying. Soonyoung sighs and rubs gently at his back. 

“Are you having feelings for him?”

“No?! I don’t know!” 

“Hoonie, you are making no sense.”

And that’s the moment Jihoon just lets everything out. He rambles over the subject of them only meeting for some fancy dinner (not really, they have had their cheap miscalculations) and then fantastic sex, yes! Nothing more. They might stay for a night, they might not, it has never been really addressed. 

But now that Jihoon really thinks about it, he kind of likes it when Seungcheol stays for breakfast or the thought of them going to movies or whatever friends do, that would be really nice. Or the fact that he could show up freely at Seungcheol’s work and maybe, pet their dogs. He would really, really like to call Seungcheol a friend he would invite to bar and just hang around. 

Soonyoung gives him a look when he falls into silence. He waits until Shua has brought their beers over and walked away before opening his mouth. 

“Are you sure you don’t want… say, him to be your boyfriend?” 

Jihoon blinks. “No?” 

Soonyoung nods, indifferent to Jihoon’s answer. 

“Have you asked what he wants?” 

“No?” 

Soonyoung blinks at him. “Have you… talked about this situation at all?”

“No?”

Soonyoung almost has a fit and emphasizes on the importance of communication. 

“Jihoon, darling, I don’t want to see you break your heart.” 

Jihoon pouts and drinks half of his beers with one go. “No one is going to break anyone’s heart, this is not… this is just sex.”

“You just said you want a friend out of him.”

Jihoon opens his mouth to argue but nothing comes out so he closes it and he feels like crying. He doesn’t know why he is being so emotional over the matter. Soonyoung pats his head. 

“Talk with him? Maybe it will make sense then?”

Jihoon hums and stares aimlessly at his drink. Maybe he could try to talk with Seungcheol. 

Maybe. 

He never does. 

When Seungcheol just smiles at him next time they meet Jihoon feels like everything is okay, the situation between them is okay, cool and great, no feelings or whatsoever. They don’t need to make things more complicated by talking. 

 

\----

 

It continues for one more month, the great sex and fun, before something swifts in their regular schedule of dinner and sex. 

Jihoon blinks at Seungcheol who looks like he had gone hell and back when he opens the door for Jihoon.

“Hey? Are you okay?”

“Not really”, Seungcheol murmurs and brushes his hand through his hair. “Do you mind if we just stay here, order take out and watch a stupid movie?”

Jihoon freezes. Seungcheol doesn’t seem to notice thou, he is already turning around and walking away from the door. Jihoon blinks back to the reality and rushes inside the apartment, closing the door behind. “Okay? May I ask what happened?”

He follows Seungcheol to the living room, kicking his shoes off and dropping his jacket on the chair. Seungcheol slumps on the couch. Jihoon hesitates but sit next to him, leaving a small gap between them. 

“Do you remember Ddabong and Mr. Kim?” Jihoon doesn’t remember but nods anyway. Seungcheol closes his eyes and leans against the couch. “We thought that Ddabong was doing fine and getting better from his pneumonia but it backtracked.” Jihoon recalls Seungcheol telling him about a dog with a serious sickness so maybe it was this one. “Mr. Kim tried his best but Ddabong didn’t make it. We put him into sleep today.”

Oh shit. 

Jihoon is not that bad at comforting people but he isn’t sure if he is ready to give emotional support to Seungcheol. He inches a bit closer, hesitating. “That’s sad to hear. Was... well, Mr. Kim obviously wasn’t okay.” “No, he cried his eyes out.” Seungcheol presses his eyes with his hands and Jihoon is sure he is close to tears. “Today has been so emotionally stressful.”

“I’m sorry. Do you… want me to leave?” Jihoon is already lifting himself up from the couch but Seungcheol shakes his head. “I would have cancelled if I didn’t want company.” He is still hiding his eyes behind his hands so Jihoon doesn’t know what kind of look he is wearing, and he is kind of afraid to find out. 

“So… take out?” 

“There are leaflets on the kitchen table.”

When Seungcheol doesn’t make any movements Jihoon stands and walks to the kitchen. There are indeed bunch of take out leaflets on the table and Jihoon picks some of them that look promising. 

“Pizza or sushi or traditional?” he yells, turning the pizza leaflet in his hand. He kind of wants something greasy but his brain is running million miles and he can’t really concentrate on picking pizza toppings. Is this take out dinner going to lead into sexy stuff? Or are they just going to watch a movie? He doesn’t know but some part of his sadistic self wants to find out. He jumps when he feels Seungcheol to press against him.

“You didn’t answer.”

“Sorry, I was… thinking about pizza toppings.”

Seungcheol’s warmness leaves when he moves to stand next to him. Jihoon blinks at him. The other man looks tired and his eyes are red, puffy even. Maybe Mr. Kim wasn’t the only one crying. He clears his throat. “Pizza?”

“If you are okay with that.”

Seungcheol lets Jihoon to deal with the ordering but he pays when their pizzas arrive. Least he could do for bothering Jihoon, he says when Jihoon tries to pay back. They pick some movie both of them have seen before and Jihoon thinks that it must mean something but when he all but hogs his pizza, Seungcheol barely touches his own, he isn’t sure anymore. 

“Seriously, I can leave if you—“ Jihoon tries again when he has finished his pizza (Seungcheol apparently gave up with his, he only finished one slice). Seungcheol shakes his head again and Jihoon freezes when the taller man leans closer, resting his head against Jihoon’s shoulder. 

“Just, stay. Please.”

Jihoon really can’t say no to that voice, no when it cracks. He nods because he can’t really trust his voice. Is this what a friend is supposed to do? But are they friends? What the fuck are they? Does Seungcheol want to be his friend? He should have some closer friends he could’ve called for emotional support like this, so why Jihoon? The questions he has pushed into the darkest corner of his mind surface like a gigantic wave and anxiousness is coming back and Jihoon feels jittery. 

Seungcheol feels droopy next to him and Jihoon licks his dry lips. He can’t really concentrate on the movie rolling on the TV screen, his mind running wildly. If he is yet again honest with himself, he would really love to know how to comfort Seungcheol after his sad day at work but he really doesn’t know how to act. He knows small snippets of Seungcheol’s life, yes and they always have fun together but this, the fact that he has sorrowful Seungcheol leaning against his shoulder, is something that crosses the line of that something they have established. 

Fuck, Jihoon should have talked about this when he had a chance. 

Jihoon yelps, when Seungcheol gently but firmly pushes him to lie down on the couch, he himself clinging close. 

“Jihoon.”

Jihoon gulps, staring up at the ceiling. He is tense and Seungcheol notices that.

“Relax.”

It’s wild, weird and _whattheactualfuck_ because usually when Seungcheol uses that low soothing voice at him, it usually means sexy time but from the way Seungcheol lays there, heavy and very much unsexy, Jihoon thinks it’s not time to touch the other man sexual way.

His body doesn’t catch up with his mind, his hand already sliding down from Seungcheol’s shoulder to his side and lower and god please let him just touch that ass—  
Seungcheol takes a hold of his wrist before he gets to touch that ass. Jihoon freezes, his fingers tense and spread out. Seungcheol turns his head on his shoulder; his breathe feels hot against Jihoon’s neck. 

“Can we just… be tonight? I’m not really in the mood.”

Jihoon doesn’t want just to be. He wants touch, lick and bite Seungcheol’s skin, he wants to make Seungcheol forgot the damn dog and Mr. Kim. 

“Okay.”

“Okay.” 

Seungcheol lets go off of his hand and just lays there, his hand sneaking around Jihoon’s waist. They stay still and Jihoon can feel the other man falling into sleep. 

It’s so fucking domestic that if Seungcheol hadn’t kind of captured him in his hug, Jihoon would have fled already. But he can’t, not when Seungcheol limps are all but draped over him.


	2. -two-

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Feelings are hard. 
> 
> aka. this is a classical filler where the story progresses but really doesn't.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I basically deleted everything I had for chap2 and I'm still not happy with this but I need something to happen before the final act so. Here, a filler. :I 
> 
> Also have I said how much I hate writing smut scenes? It's horrible, I hate it because everything I write sounds awkward because I'm not familiar with words and my grammar sucks and. I just. Can't. But it's not too explicit. Yet. Ugh.

\-----

“His name is Holly.”

Junhyung gives Yoongi a look over the phone thrust to his face. “He is a boy.” Yoongi shrugs. “Who cares.”

Jihoon tunes them out and tries to drown himself into work. He didn’t get lot of sleep last night and he is tense and cranky and he doesn’t need Yoongi to bother him with his stupid dog pictures so he tries hard to hide behind his computer’s screen. His hopes go in vain because after Junhyung more than gently shoves the shorter man away, Yoongi sits down on Jihoon’s table, throwing his other leg over another and leans closer. 

“Taehyung send me a new patch of pictures.”

“When can you take your own pictures?” Jihoon spats; he isn’t sure which option is the best, the one where Yoongi is limited to show off the photos send to him or the fact that Yoongi could send him a new photo of a drooling dog anytime he pleases. 

“Adoption progress is longer than I thought. They need to be sure I’m fit to be Holly’s owner.”

“Wasn’t his name Snow White?” Jihoon grunts, rubbing his temple and Yoongi hums. 

“Working title, I guess.”

Jihoon gives him a pointed look and tries to concentrate on the graphs on his laptop’s screen, hoping Yoongi would leave him alone.

Yoongi, however, isn’t that easily fooled. 

“What’s up with you today? Didn’t get boned last night?”

“Yes, I did not get boned”, Jihoon rasps and Yoongi arches his eyebrows. “He wanted to cuddle.” Jihoon spits the last word out like it’s a curse and Yoongi cracks up, his boisterous laugh filling the calm office. 

“Cuddle? Oh my god, you are one kind of sex friends.” 

“I don’t know what we are.”

Yoongi narrows his eyes at him. “You didn’t talk with him.” It’s not a question so Jihoon doesn’t answer, only stills his hands above the keyboard. Yoongi sighs. 

“Let me ask you something. What did you think of that cuddling?” Jihoon blinks, thinking. He taps his fingers gently against the keypad, not really pressing the letters. 

“He is like super cuddly and soft.”

“So you liked it.”

Jihoon would be lying if he said no but he isn’t sure if he is ready to admit his love for cuddling Seungcheol because that fact kept him awake but on the other hand the softness made him eventually drift into sleep. It kind of terrifies him a bit. When was the last time he actually cared about cuddling? So he doesn’t say anything. Yoongi lifts his eyebrows, his eyes widening a bit. 

“What do you want you two to be?”

Jihoon hates Yoongi because Yoongi knows how to dig the deepest and darkest corners of his mind and can awoke thoughts and feelings he has been trying to ignore. They stare at each other, Yoongi’s lips curving into a smug, knowing smile. 

“You want to have more snuggles with him.”

“Maybe.” 

“So, I am going to do some paper work about Holly so accompany me. Tomorrow.” 

It’s not a suggestion, it’s more like an order and Jihoon hates himself for saying yes and when Yoongi leaves him be, he bangs his head against the table and murmurs a set of curses under his breath. 

Even if the cuddly Seungcheol kept him awake, the other man had looked so much better and rested when he had finally woken up, Jihoon’s phone blaring the alarm around 7am. He had offered him breakfast and everything around them had been nice and soft and domestic and when Jihoon had finally exited Seungcheol’s apartment, Jihoon had felt somewhat refreshed too. 

Would they make a good couple? At least sex was good but would they really be good material to be a real couple?

What were his options from now on? Continue being what they are or ask Seungcheol out for a real date, without sex? 

Jihoon rubs his eyes. His questions won’t stop until he speaks with Seungcheol so that is probably his next move. 

 

\-----

 

“Ah, mister Min!” 

“I told you to call me Yoongi, Taehyung.”

The tall worker smiles at them widely and leaves the desk unoccupied to join them. “I must upkeep the professionalism, maybe outside the work, hmm?” 

Yoongi crunches up his nose but Jihoon spots the blush there and he arches his eyebrow. Really?

Taehyung is babbling something about the dogs and Jihoon trails behind the two of them, glancing at the empty front desk over his shoulder, the question of Seungcheol whereabouts dying on his lips as Taehyung explains something to Yoongi, swinging his arms excitedly. Maybe the other man will appear from somewhere. He watches with amusement how the formerly named Snow White, now Holly, barks happily when they reach its cage. Yoongi kneels and coos at it, Taehyung standing right behind him, leaning forward a bit to say something to Yoongi, his hand resting on Yoongi’s shoulder. Jihoon feels like he is third-wheeling so he sneaks away to the next room, where he hears some quiet meowing. 

Apparently it’s a cat room of sort, and there is a round-faced man tending bunch of kittens in a big card board box. He blinks at Jihoon. “Can I help you?”

“Ah, my friend is talking with Taehyung about Hol—Snow White, I got bored, sorry. I just wandered in.” 

The man lifts a small cat in his hand, smiling. 

“It’s okay. Want to pet them?” 

Jihoon doesn’t really care about cats but nods anyway, its fur looks so soft and it’s when he gets it in his hands. He gasps softly. The man grins. 

“We got them about a month ago and they are doing pretty well considering that their mother was killed.”

“Was it negligence?” “More like an unfortunate accident. They were ordinary wild cat’s kindle but the mother was killed by a car. Luckily, they were so small that we have a hope of domesticating them.” Jihoon smiles at the kitten in his hands, nodding. 

“They are cute.”

“Yeah, I just hope all of them will survive.”

“How so?”

“Vaccination and such are pretty expensive and even thou we do have good finance it’s still pretty tough to find enough money for all of them. Our manager is out there, promoting and trying to find some funding from our sponsors.”

Ah, that explains where Seungcheol is. Jihoon bites down his lower lips as the kitten nuzzles against his thumb. 

“Can… ordinary people donate?”

“Yeah!” The man blinks at him, his eyes round. “Are you interested?”

Jihoon doesn’t think twice and blurts out “yes.” 

 

\-----

 

Soonyoung is cooing over his donation placate.

“I never thought you had it in you, to care about animals.”

Jihoon sneers at him and snatches the paper back. The animal center worker, Yoseob had helped him through the donation progress and by the time Yoongi was done with his paper work (or flirting with Taehyung) Jihoon had donated more than his monthly salary to the damn kittens. 

“I am their honor patron!” 

“Okay, no need to get offended. I’m not judging you, I am just surprised.”

Jihoon pouts and Soonyoung sighs, leaning against his hand. “Does Seungcheol know?” Jihoon shakes his head. “He wasn’t there and I’m not going to text him about it.” 

“Why not? You are in a cuddling phase so.” Jihoon sneers but he is too tired so all the offence or anger disappear as fast as it appeared. Soonyoung pats his head. 

“Jihoon. Maybe you should try… maybe ask him out for a regular date, without sex.”

“I was thinking about that but what if he says no?”

“Maybe you can be subtle about it? Maybe… make an excuse of being tired? You are pretty tired these days.”

“I will think about it.”

“You should, I mean he cuddled with you after the incident with the dog. And—ah, hey babe!” 

Soonyoung waves his hand when he spots Seokmin to enter to the bar and Jihoon smiles at them. He is happy for Soonyoung for finding Seokmin, he really is even if they make him so annoyed with their domestic shit sometimes. But if Jihoon is honest with himself, he thinks it would be really nice to have someone to be like that: someone to smile brightly at, gently to take a hold of their hand and to peck their cheek. 

And Jihoon wants to punch himself for thinking Seungcheol right now. 

He feels like crying and Seokmin casts a curious look at him when whines quietly. Soonyoung also notices and both of them start to fuss over him. Jihoon waves them off and leaves soon after, wondering if he should text to Seungcheol.

He doesn’t and when he finally falls asleep after rolling around in his bed, his dreams are filled with kittens and Seungcheol. 

 

\-----

 

Even if Jihoon doesn’t tell Seungcheol that he donated the money for the kittens, Seungcheol himself texts him rows and rows of words of adoration towards this nameless person who donated more than enough for the kittens to get their vaccinations. Jihoon feels secretly proud of himself, that he made Seungcheol actually feel happy. 

Soonyoung tries to encourage him to do something about the matter between him and Seungcheol but Jihoon doesn’t have a heart to do so. He enjoys the easy banter Seungcheol initiates through the texts and they don’t even have time to meet up because Jihoon’s work is gearing up again because after all the planning, their project needs to be done. Jihoon isn’t an asshole and doesn’t want to have the conversation about his relationship with Seungcheol through a phone: he needs to see Seungcheol’s face and all the small changes in it when their conversation will take place. 

Jihoon is ready to admit that he might be very fond of Seungcheol and his heart aches a bit every time he gets a message from the other man. Jihoon starts working through the nights soon after because it keeps his wild mind occupied but it also makes him harder to deal with. After the fourth all-nighter Yoongi kicks him out of the office in the morning when he finds him there, and orders him to sleep. “No coming back before you do!” he hollers after him, Jihoon flipping him off.

And even if Yoongi kicks him out of the office, it doesn’t mean that he will stop working, he has reports to write so he naps a bit and after that continues his work. He still needs to finish the report; they are meeting the client next day.

Between napping and working his messaging with Seungcheol short and almost absent. Jihoon is already so used to their daily texting that now he feels a bit lonely without Seungcheol’s ridiculous messages. Jihoon groans and rubs his eyes under his glasses, leaning against the couch, his laptop balanced in his lap. 

His phone’s screen lights up and starts to buzz next to him. Jihoon glances at it and his eyes widen before he hurriedly grabs it. It’s almost the middle of the night and Seungcheol is calling.

Jihoon picks up, his heart hammering in his chest. “Hey? Are you okay?”

Seungcheol laughs and Jihoon feels his ears to heat up. “Well, sorry, you don’t usually call.”

_“Ah, sorry sorry, I am still at work and—“_ Jihoon listens to Seungcheol to shuffle around, cooing at something, maybe to an animal. _“—thought that calling you is more convenient than texting because my hands are… literally quite full.”_

“So I am on speakers?” _“Yeah, so tell me if I wander off too far.”_ “Oh, okay.”  
Jihoon blinks. Well, this is new. 

He registers Seungcheol to say something about missing his voice. He licks his suddenly dry lips. He hums, contently and Seungcheol laughs a little, kind of distant and Jihoon reminds the other man not to wander too far. 

It’s not awkward and Jihoon listens to Seungcheol to shuffle around before Seungcheol starts to talk, his voice again clearer, about his day, about the dogs he has been washing up all day and god, he is all drenched up and he is going to make his workers pay for leaving him alone. He listens to Seungcheol to talk, his voice light and bubbly, and Jihoon can swear he hears quiet barking through the speakers. 

He doesn’t really pay attention what Seungcheol is telling, he kind of pays attention to the lowness and huskiness of his voice because his mind started to wander when Seungcheol said something about drenched clothes. Jihoon groans, closing his eyes. Christ, it has been so long. 

_“Jihoon? Are you okay? You sounded pained…?”_

“What are you wearing?” 

Seungcheol sputters. _“What?”_

Jihoon’s mouth-brain filter died officially as he blurts out: “I mean, I kind of need to imagine your wet clothes so I can touch my dick. But then again it has nothing to do with me touching my dick, not really, I just want to know.”

Jihoon wants to fling the phone to the wall across him but all he does is to open his mouth and scream silently. Who the fuck says something like that even if phone sex is a thing but that was totally out of it and oh god fuck, he is on speakers on Seungcheol’s end and—

\--he clearly hears _“…am I interrupting something?”_ said by not Seungcheol. 

Jihoon flings the phone across the room and it hits the wall. 

Shit. 

He sits still, wondering if he should do something about his half hard cock but fuck, he just crashed his phone against a wall. 

A wall Seungcheol could fuck him against. 

Jihoon wails, sliding down on couch, pressing his hands against his eyes. Apparently he is getting too tired and too horny suddenly. Why the fuck a call from Seungcheol has such an impact on him? 

He has no idea how long he just sits there, hiding his eyes behind his eyes before he jolts up, opening his mouth and screams silently. He should get a grip. Jihoon slaps his cheeks and leans forward to continue his report. He gets to write two paragraphs when his half hard dick reminds him that, hey, I’m still here and maybe, Seungcheol could just fuck him against the table, like really good and slow and—Jihoon slams the laptop shut. 

He is in no right mind to write a report and he is not going to risk writing anything about his fantasies of Seungcheol on it even by accident. Yoongi would skin him alive. 

Jihoon stands putting the laptop on the coffee table, and decides to deal with his phone instead. He picks up the pieces (the screen is so badly cracked and battery is out and there is no way of getting it working) and groans. 

It’s not even Monday and everything is so shit suddenly. 

He probably won’t sleep anyway so maybe he could go and find some 24/7 open phone shop or whatever. Or just leave early in the morning. So maybe a shower and little jerking off would do. 

But his plan is backtracked when there is a ring of a door bell. In a middle of a night, 1.30am to be exact. Jihoon hesitates when he moves closer the door, then he hears a small knock. 

“Jihoon? It’s Seungcheol.”

Jihoon sputters but swings the door open. It’s indeed Seungcheol who jerks back a little bit and they stare at each other, Jihoon blinks because Seungcheol indeed looks like he has been washing dogs all day, muddy paw prints middle of his white shirt and Jihoon probably looks like a nerd holed up inside the apartment and then Seungcheol moves and crashes their lips together.

Jihoon doesn’t ask, he just pulls Seungcheol in and the door is shut behind them. It’s urgent, it’s needy and Jihoon pulls the hem of Seungcheol t-shirt. Seungcheol kisses are open-mouthed, hot and Jihoon moans against Seungcheol tongue. T-shirt is ridden off and Jihoon sighs as his hands lay against the firm muscles. He slides his hands up, flicks his thumbs over Seungcheol’s nipples and Seungcheol gasps softly, pushing himself closer against Jihoon. Seungcheol’s hands are on his hair, tucking the strands and Jihoon gasps when Seungcheol’s lips move from his lips to his jaw. 

God, this is what he needs.

“Did you touch yourself?” Seungcheol murmurs against his ear and Jihoon lets out a small groan, followed with soft ‘no.’ Seungcheol breathes out shakily, still so close and Jihoon presses his hands harder against Seungcheol’s shoulder blades.

“Touch yourself for me.”

It’s not even close a question and Jihoon obeys without thinking twice. His hands are shaky, cupping his hard on through his boxer as soon as Seungcheol fumbles with his pants and pulls them down. Jihoon moans, low and needy, and Seungcheol presses his knee even closer, his teeth scraping against Jihoon’s neck. 

Jihoon steps back, freeing his cock in a progress. He bites his lower lip without moving his eyes from Seungcheol’s who follows his steps. Jihoon feels something poking his back, it’s kind of soft so it must be his couch maybe, oh god he doesn’t care and Seungcheol cages him against the backrest. Seungcheol is so close but yet so far away and Jihoon bets that if Seungcheol wasn’t holding onto the backrest, his hands would be all over Jihoon’s body. 

Jihoon lets his mouth relax, freeing his lip from the bite and Seungcheol’s eyes falter to his mouth. Jihoon grins and makes a show to slide his fingers up against his own cock. His mouth falls open into a silent moan, his eyes never leaving Seungcheol’s. Seungcheol chest rises and fall, like he is really trying to control himself but Jihoon isn’t taking any of it. He moves, he can feel Seungcheol’s hard cock against his knuckles and Seungcheol’s groans when he presses closer. 

“Touch. Me,” Jihoon punctuates slowly and Seungcheol does exactly that.

Jihoon gets his wish to be fucked against the table. It’s not the most comfortable experience but it is enjoyable, Seungcheol being so fucking talented with his thrusts and god, his hands feel so good against his hips, holding steady while fucking him rough and quick, needy.  
Seungcheol bents over him, groaning, and Jihoon anchors his other leg around Seungcheol, pressing his heel into the junction between his butt cheek and thigh. His back arches, his hands falling from holding Seungcheol’s arms and he doesn’t quite register his is coming, not really. It’s bliss, it’s warm and Seungcheol is coming too, tensing above him and they kiss, and it almost feels like it’s a seal that binds them together. 

“Stay” is the last thing that leaves Jihoon’s mouth before he drifts into sleep. 

Jihoon sleeps better than he ever has that night even if his neck hurts when he wakes up in the morning. He feels something heavy on his chest and he knows that it has to be Seungcheol, so he cracks his eyes open. He is lying on his back, both hands lying messily above his head and Seungcheol’s hair is the first thing he sees and feels when he tries to lift his head. He sputters and Seungcheol moves and oh god he is close. 

He smiles at him, all dimples and Jihoon feels so fucking in love. 

“I think I fell asleep,” he says instead, his voice cracking. 

Seungcheol sniggers quietly, shifting his position so that he is leaning against Jihoon with his hands, fingers caressing Jihoon’s bare skin. “It’s okay. I’m actually happy that you look much more rested now. You looked like shit. Stress at work?”

_No, it’s you that stresses me out,_ Jihoon wants to say but he only nods, lifting himself up and Seungcheol follows his movement, his hands moving to rest warmly at Jihoon’s hip. Jihoon shivers when Seungcheol’s fingers dance over his skin.

“Are you cold? Do you want breakfast?”

Jihoon just nods but before Seungcheol moves away, he almost like hugs him, his lips ghosting over Jihoon’s neck but the kiss doesn’t happen and Seungcheol’s warm is gone faster than Jihoon anticipated. Jihoon watches Seungcheol to retreat to the kitchen before he rubs his face with his hands. He finds some shirt from the floor and pulls it on as he makes his way to the kitchen where Seungcheol is making coffee and toast. 

Jihoon sits down and yawns, rubbing his eyes. Seungcheol hums along some song inside his head and Jihoon closes his eyes when the fresh smell of coffee hits the air. It’s so slow, so peaceful and Jihoon could get used to it. He opens his eyes again when he hears plates put on the table. Seungcheol smiles at him before sitting down. Jihoon pouts. 

“Hey, shouldn’t you put some clothes on? Not that I complain but you will catch a cold,” Jihoon wonders and Seungcheol gives him an amused look, the corners of his lips curving upwards. “I would but yours are probably too small for me to wear.” Jihoon blinks, not quite understanding but Seungcheol elaborates quickly by nodding towards him, raking his eyes along Jihoon’s body. “You are wearing my t-shirt.”

And he indeed is wearing it. Jihoon blushes and he bolts up, hands gripping on the hem. “Oh God! I’m sorry, I will… change into something else! Here!” He flings the shirt over his head and thrusts it into Seungcheol’s general direction before rushing towards his bedroom to find another shirt. He can hear Seungcheol laughing at him loudly when he yanks some random shirt from his closet. 

When he finally returns to the kitchen, Seungcheol is leaning against the table, smiling so fondly at him that Jihoon almost forgets that they aren’t boyfriends. 

He licks his lips. This is it, he will talk about it now, ask Seungcheol properly to be his. 

“Hey, I..”

Seungcheol phone starts to ring and the other man’s demeanor changes. “Sorry, I have to get that.” Jihoon nods, pursing his lips tightly together as Seungcheol passes him to get his phone wherever it is. The ringtone is probably telling Seungcheol who is calling because his expression has transformed into something similar to worried. 

“Hey, you okay?”

Seungcheol bites his lips as he listen to whoever is on the other end of the line and Jihoon wonders if Seungcheol ever would be that worried about him.

“You want me to come there? Do you need me?”

Jihoon feels the lump in his throat. 

“I will be there as fast as I can.”

Seungcheol ends the call and looks worried but displeased at the same time, like he doesn’t want to go but he needs to. 

“Sorry, I have to go. It’s… sorry, I really—“

Jihoon waves his hand, holding tightly his mug. 

“It’s okay, besides it sounded urgent. But you owe me a breakfast.”

Seungcheol’s face brightens up and he nods eagerly. “Yeah, maybe next week?” Jihoon nods and Seungcheol collects his things before scribbling something down on a piece of paper. “I actually tried to call you yesterday but it never connected but I noticed your phone being in pieces. So, if your contact information is lost case, here is my number.” 

Jihoon sputters. “Fuck, I’m so sorry. Did I damage your poor innocent co-worker?” Seungcheol snorts. “Taehyung? No, he just laughed at me before telling me to come here.”

Jihoon groans and Seungcheol beams at him. “I really have to go. See you.” And he proceeds to kiss Jihoon. And it’s not such a haste peck to the cheek, it’s full on lips against lips action and Jihoon is dazed for minutes after the door is closed behind Seungcheol.

 

\-----

 

Jihoon phone is broken beyond fixing, as he has suspected. His new phone is wonky and different brand and it takes him time to familiarize with it. He sends rows of misspelled messages every time because he can’t quite figure out the buttons and Seungcheol takes his pleasure from them, sending back rows and rows laughing emojis. Jihoon starts to hate the one with laughing face and tears in its eyes. 

They meet up for a breakfast like they planned, Seungcheol pays. 

And it’s not only for the one time because suddenly they have a routine of morning coffees and toasts in their weekly schedule. 

And Jihoon would be lying if he said he didn’t like it. He dares they are breakfast dates but nothing ever sais aloud. But he dares to wish. He likes it quite a lot and the more Seungcheol smiles at him, the more he falls in love with the dimples and soft curls.

Jihoon wants to reach over the table and take a hold of Seungcheol’s hand more than once but Seungcheol’s own hands are usually busy fiddling with the spoons or forks or the rim of the mug to stay put long enough. 

He isn’t sure if Seungcheol is actually trying to figure out his own feelings towards Jihoon by doing so. Because to Jihoon it looks like Seungcheol is enjoying their time together as much Jihoon is. It’s a bit torture for Jihoon and he really tries to talk with Seungcheol about them, about those breakfast dates. But Jihoon feels terrified to ask so instead he keeps his words vague enough that if Seungcheol wanted he could interpret them as Jihoon intends them to sound but he never does so Jihoon lets himself enjoy their time together. 

Soonyoung gives a disappointed look when he finds out but Jihoon ignores him.

“This is going to end up breaking your heart, if you don’t act soon. I know it looks like you two are dating but are you really? Don’t assume.” Soonyoung begs over the loud music, tapping his fingers against the table.

Jihoon tries to brush him off but Soonyoung is persistent. “Jihoon, I’m worried.” 

“I’m a grown man, I know what I’m doing.”

Jeonghan rolls his eyes him and empties his drink before slamming the empty glass down. “You have no fucking clue what you are doing.” Jihoon feels somewhat offended by that and rolls his eyes, inching closer to his pouty friend. Jeonghan isn’t paying attention to him, not really, his eyes fixed on Jun on the other side of the bar. Jihoon turns his head between them and he catches Soonyoung’s little head shake. Jihoon ignores him. 

“Why are you staring Jun?”

“I fucking hate him.”

Jihoon snorts. “No you don’t. Who is he chatting with anyway? I haven’t seen him around.”  
Jeonghan pouts but says nothing so Soonyoung offers an explanation. “Shua has a new apprentice or whatever. His name is Kris and—“ 

“Who the fuck has a name like that, so lame”, Jeonghan interrupts and Soonyoung gives him a pointed look. Jeonghan pouts even more but continues. “Apparently, he is not only decent with English but also in—“ Jeonghan makes a dramatic pause and turns to Jihoon. “—Chinese.”

Ah, makes sense why Jun seemed to be so talkative with the bartender. Soonyoung excuses himself from the table, muttering something about ordering more drinks. Jihoon waits until he is gone before turning back to Jeonghan.

“So he dumped you to talk with this Kris person.”

Jeonghan’s eyes twist and his mouth is pressed into tight line and Jihoon arches his eyebrow at him, sipping his drink.

“I wish he doesn’t do that.”

“Dump you? Jeonghan, are you even a—“

Jeonghan hisses. “You have no right when your own sex friend deal is a mere cuddling deal right now.”

Jihoon purses his lips together and they stare at each other, neither of them blinking. And then they hear Jun to laugh at something the new bartender probably said, his laugh rich and genuine.

And that’s the moment when all the walls and such which Jeonghan usually holds tightly around himself, crumble, and he breaks the eye contact. 

Jihoon has seen Jeonghan like that once or twice before but that’s because they go way back and obviously you share moments with your close friends. But it still somehow manages to break Jihoon’s heart and he lets all the snide slip away from himself.

“I can’t ever win against another Chinese”, Jeonghan’s voice is small, scared even and Jihoon resists the urge to roll his eyes when he moves closer. 

“You don’t know, they just chat. The other dude might already be in a relationship.” 

“When has that stopped Jun?” 

“Oh God.” 

“So you don’t know!” 

“You don’t know either!” 

Jeonghan groans and nods his head towards the bar. “Just look at them. The way Jun just leans over the desk, oh, he is on a hunt.” Jihoon punches his shoulder and Jeonghan wails. “What? It’s true!” “You can hunt him back, moron!” 

Jeonghan groans and leans against Jihoon’s shoulder. “We are so fucked up.”

Jihoon sips his drink. “Have you ever considered actually learning Chinese for Jun?” 

Jeonghan snorts, squinting his eyes at the two Chinese men. “Oh please, too much hassle.” “But don’t you think Jun would appreciate it?” “Oh come on, I don’t want to accidentally ride his mother instead of a horse and—“ “Please, I don’t want to know your kinks in bed, please.” 

Jeonghan rolls his eyes but Jihoon is pleased to see a small upturn of lips. It’s not much but it’s there and suddenly Jihoon gets a burst of confidence.

“Let’s make a deal. It's Tuesday so by the end of next week, we both have a steady relationship.”

“I don’t want a steady, boring, cuddly relationship.”

“Jeonghan.”

Jeonghan sighs, his pretense all gone again. He offers his hand. Jihoon takes it.

Soonyoung gives them a look, holding his drink close to his chest.

“What did I miss? No, do I even want to know?”

Jeonghan and Jihoon share a look. They smirk simultaneously and Soonyoung groans. Fuck he cares what his friends are up to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Studying Chinese is hard. Like, I thought trying to learn Russian was hard but Chinese, ngggh, I just couldn't. Pronunciation is never my forte.


	3. -three-

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻

\-----

“This is Holly.”

Jihoon gets ambushed on Thursday by Yoongi and his bloody dog when he is almost inside their office building. He stares at the other man who stands there, holding a leash of a small brown dog wiggling its tail. Taehyung is grinning widely at him from his spot next to a sleek car, his arms crossed over his chest. 

He doesn’t know what to say so Jihoon just opens and closes his mouth until Yoongi gets annoyed with him and rolls his eyes. Taehyung is still grinning when he takes the leash.

“Have a great day at work!”

His mouth is still moving, like ready to end the sentence with some sort of fond nickname for Yoongi but the other man nothing but glares at him and Taehyung laughs loudly. Jihoon gives his co-worker a look. Yoongi grunts something about not having his coffee yet and waves his hand at Taehyung who beams. Jihoon gapes at them when Taehyung tries to hug Yoongi but the other man sneers at him and Taehyung withdraws laughing. When Taehyung finally drives away with Holly, Jihoon blurts: “What was that, a date?”

Yoongi makes indescribable sound but doesn’t answer as he makes his way inside the office building. Jihoon makes a face and rushes after him. 

“Hyung, I think that is a very valid question!”

“It was not. He was just very persistent to meet me after his jog with Holly, thought it would be awesome to teach me to how to jog with a dog, what is he, five?” Yoongi spats, “I fucking know how to walk a damn dog!” Jihoon rolls his eyes.

“And he just happened to park his car just right in front of our building?”

Yoongi gives him a pointed look and Jihoon gives him one back. Chanyeol sighs and takes the stairs as the two others step inside the elevator: he doesn’t want to get in between when the two men are like that, he has learned from his mistakes. 

Yoongi shifts the matter of love lives to Jihoon. “And your confession plan?”

“Seungcheol has a business trip. Something about opening another shelter in Daegu.”

Yoongi hums. “Explains why Taehyung has been so freaking annoying, no boss to watch his steps.”

There is a argument just on the tip of Jihoon tongue, like the little red hue on Yoongi’s cheek is not a giveaway of his fondness towards this morning’s dog jog date or whatever. Instead Jihoon purses his lips together into a thin line. “He gets back on Monday.”

The elevator beeps to a stop and they both step outside and Yoongi is pulled along by a hysterical assistant from the fifth floor. Jihoon soon finds himself to be tackling with some financial issues with the accounting intern, his relationship problems forgotten for now as the work occupies his mind. 

He is a bit bummed because of Seungcheol’s trip. He tried to arrange meeting for yesterday but Seungcheol had been busy preparing his leave to have time to chat. They had met up for the breakfast (and then had Seungcheol told him about the business trip) and had Jihoon tried to confess but then some school boy in a hurry had bumped against their table and drinks had been spilled all over the table and on them. Jihoon had taken that as a sign of a greater power to postpone his confession. 

And now Jihoon had to wait for next week and it sucked. 

It’s not that easy to confess, not really because Jihoon has been dancing around the subject for so long now. To Jihoon’s defense, Jeonghan doesn’t plan on making any progress with his confession either because apparently he does enjoy seeing Jun happy with his new Chinese friend to actually perform an act of jealously fouled confession. 

Jihoon rubs his eyes when they finally settle the finances and the intern can return to his own table. Jihoon gets some quiet time before another rush of assignments gets in his way. His schedule for the rest of the week is mostly about finalizing reports and stuff and next week would be filled with final meetings and then it would start all over again. But it kept his life interesting, not a dull day in his work life. 

It’s around noon when Jihoon sits back down with a fresh mug of coffee in his hands and Junhyung rolls his chair, very uncharacteristically, to his side. 

“Look.”

Jihoon turns his head a bit to see Yoongi putting away papers in neat piles while saying something to Kim Seokjin from the marketing, who is standing there, arching his eyebrows, arms crossed over his chest. Something is so wrong with the picture but Jihoon can’t quite figure out what and he turns to Junhyung, whose eyes are wide. 

“He hasn’t stumbled with the piles at all. And Seokjin has been here for fifteen minutes already.”

Jihoon blinks. 

Jihoon gasps.

“Is Yoongi falling out in love with the face of marketing?!” 

Junhyung nods, his eyes still wide. Jihoon curses silently and they just sit there, staring at the pair, chatting and then Yoongi offers some files to Seokjin and the man leaves. 

Suddenly everyone in the office find their work super interesting because no one wants to meet Yoongi’s eyes. But Junhyung likes to play with the fire.

“Oi! What was that?”

Yoongi blinks at him. “What was what?” 

Junhyung sputters, throws his hands up and turns back to his work. Yoongi blinks. Jihoon is  
distracted by a buzz of his phone. 

Jihoon tries to suppress a smile from appearing to his face when he realizes from who the text is from, Yoongi and his love life forgotten in instance. 

It’s kind of ridiculous how easily his tiredness is washed away just by a simple text from Seungcheol. And the man is wishing him a happy day with a selfie with a fluffy brown puppy, and that makes Jihoon smile.

Jihoon takes a selfie with his coffee and he sniggers when Seungcheol sends a pouting selfie back to him, complaining how much Jihoon drinks coffee, _it’s not healthy for your heart_ , he says.

Jihoon ignores the temptation to send _‘you are not healthy for my heart’_ back, instead sending an explanation, saying he needs the caffeine to pull through the final stage of the project in hand. As he waits the little _typing_ from Seungcheol’s end to disappear, he worries the lower lip between his teeth. 

Confessing through a text would be an ass move to make, right? Because he is middle of the work, he wouldn’t be able to answer Seungcheol’s call… if the other man even would call him back. So he watches the little _typing_ disappear and appear for like ten minutes or so until it is no more and there are no new messages. Jihoon bites down his tongue. He stares at the screen until it goes dark and he waits anxiously but his phone doesn’t buzz. 

 

\-----

 

“Fuuuuuck.”

Seokmin pats his head when Jihoon slides next to him and bangs his head against the table. 

“Rough week?”

“You can bet. I don’t know who decided to hire our assistant, he is clumsy as fuck and he gets the printer fucked up every time he uses it! But it’s also kind of hilarious how fast he can actually run when Yoongi yells after him.”

Seokmin beams at him. “All good then?”

“Yes! I have weekend off and Monday, fuck, it’s starts again. We have something big coming but Yoongi wouldn’t tell yet who our new client is!” Jihoon whines and nods his head to thank Soonyoung who returns to the table with their drinks. It’s early Saturday night and Jihoon hasn’t really been acting like a proper adult. He has been neglecting his eating and sleeping which always happens when he gets immersed into work but now he hadn’t had Seungcheol to lure him into a hug and asleep. Jihoon rubs his eyes. 

_Godfuckingshit_ he misses Seungcheol. 

Seungcheol has been on his business trip for less than a week but Jihoon misses him so badly. He misses Seungcheol’s smiles and his hugs and goofiness and godfuckingshit is this what being in love means? Because he doesn’t even miss sex with Seungcheol, he just… misses Seungcheol. 

“You look like you are about to cry.”

“I think I’m in love.”

Seokmin coos at him and Soonyoung high fives himself. Jihoon rolls his eyes at them but smiles nonetheless.

“And I’m tired as fuck. Am I sappy because of that?”

Soonyoung laughs and gives him one armed hug.

“Probably but I am happy for you now that you are finally honest with yourself!”

Jihoon smiles and cheers his glass with them. He wishes he could be honest with Seungcheol too.

“So when is the lover boy coming back from his trip?”

“On Monday.”

Soonyoung grins at him. “Surprise him—“

“You mean Seungcheol is on a trip?” Seokmin interrupts suddenly and both Jihoon and Soonyoung turn to look at him, Jihoon nodding. Seokmin blinks confused. “But I saw him here yesterday? He dropped off something to Shua and left soon after.” 

Jihoon blinks and Soonyoung’s eyes widen comically. Seokmin withdraws into himself a bit. “I wasn’t supposed to say that?” 

“What do you mean he was here? He is supposed to be in Daegu.” Jihoon barks and Soonyoung casts him a warning look not to upset his boyfriend. Jihoon doesn’t care.

Why would Seungcheol lie about being on a business trip? Seungcheol’s trip was real, right? Taehyung had told about it to Yoongi, right? Or had he, Jihoon had never asked and hadn’t he been the one mention it? And what about that never written or send message? Was Seungcheol actually avoiding him? Oh my god, where the hell all these questions were coming from?

“Maybe you just got confused by someone else who looked like Seungcheol. You said it was a hurried visit, right?” Soonyoung tries and Seokmin nods franticly. “I had had couple of drinks with Jeonghan so it could have been that.” Jihoon groans and hits his head against the table. 

He feels Soonyoung’s hand on his back, rubbing gently. 

“I told you. Talk with him when you see him next time.”

Jihoon hums his agreement. 

Talking should have been done so many months ago, he knows now and he regrets it so much. He has been so stupid for assuming things and now he was freaking in love and what if Seungcheol didn’t feel the same. 

Jihoon is freaking terrified.

 

\-----

 

Monday rolls by and when it’s over Jihoon is sitting by his desk, staring aimlessly forward. The office is quiet, barely no one stayed over time because the work hasn’t kicked in yet, only Jihoon, and probably some higher ups, he can still see lights here and there around the open office space. 

His eyes follow the movement of the fifth floor assistant, who stands up and throws his hands up in some sort of victory dance when he hears Yoongi’s voice tell him to go home. The man leaves the office soon after and Jihoon stands slowly, clutching the phone in his hand. Yoongi gives him a look over the folding screen. 

“Why are you still here?” 

Jihoon shrugs. Yoongi rolls his eyes, turning back to his papers. “Go home Jihoon, I need you sharp and ready tomorrow for the client meeting.” 

Jihoon nods and it feels like his movements slow down when he packs his things but then the time feels like speeding up because the next thing he knows, he is outside in the harsh night air. 

His phone is still in his hand, no new messages received. 

 

\-----

 

It might be pettiness or just his pride talking but Jihoon doesn’t text to Seungcheol. He stares his phone angrily and Tuesday comes and goes and on the Wednesday Jihoon is ready smash things when their assistant crashes into him with full speed and Jihoon’s coffee is spilled everywhere. 

Yoongi tells Namjoon to scram and Jihoon to get another cup from the coffee room, he will deal with the mess. 

Jihoon is seething when he stomps down the corridor towards the coffee room. 

He is ready to fight anyone who even dares to look at his way. He is almost there when he hears someone say Yoongi’s name loud and clear through the opened door of the coffee room. 

Jihoon freezes, huffing, and looks around but he is the only one in the corridor. 

Fuck his luck because Jihoon hates eavesdropping and office gossips but the topic is about his friend (and supervisor above all) so he feels like he gets to listen in. Because what else would brighten up his day than go and kick someone’s ass. And, as bad as it makes Jihoon to feel, short men should be allied. 

As he listens in, he realizes it’s none other than their marketing brand official, the face of the fifth floor, Kim Seokjin who is talking and Jihoon lurks closer.

“—wrong with him? It’s not entertaining at all.” 

The coffee cups cling and the door of the fridge is closed. Jihoon hears someone open the milk bottle.

“So he usually just drops things?”

“Yeah! But he hasn’t done it recently. I would say if he didn’t act like a total love fool around me once or twice but today counts the beginning of the second month of him ignoring me!” Jihoon hears a huff. “It can’t be coincidental anymore.” 

Jihoon’s mind reminds him of the day when Junhyung had rolled over and pointed out the same thing. Jihoon hadn’t really thought about it afterwards, Yoongi’s life was his to live, not Jihoon’s but now that he thinks about it, something very dreadful settles in Jihoon’s stomach. 

“Is Min Yoongi the boss of the fourth floor? Angry eyes but sweet smile?” asks the voice Jihoon doesn’t recognize and after Seokjin agrees, it continues: “I didn’t know you were serious with him? I know you like attention and that you are petty as fuck…” Seokjin disagrees by whining and the voice continues amused: “I mean, maybe someone made a move on him? I don’t mean to make you feel any worse but I spotted him this morning with some really gorgeous man outside. He had a dog!”

Jihoon stops listening. It feels like someone had poured a bucket full of ice cold water on him. He doesn’t hear what Seokjin answers because all he can think of the silent treatment he is getting from Seungcheol. 

What does it even mean? But weren’t they kind of real friends? But why Seungcheol hasn’t bothered to text him that he is back in town and wants to meet up? Maybe he doesn’t want to have meet ups anymore? Has Seungcheol found someone from Daegu to mess around? Were they just sex-friend? They never labeled it and in a sense there wouldn’t be a reason for Seungcheol to tell him anything. 

Was it just Jihoon who misses their breakfast dates, misses their time together in general? Is Jihoon the only one falling in love?

Fuck, was Soonyoung right? Is this the part where his heart starts breaking?

Jihoon takes a deep breath and leaves the corridor before Seokjin and his friend can catch him and makes his way to the streets and to the nearest coffee shop. He lets noises of the busy corner café to lull his mind and wash the anxiousness away. 

Maybe he is just over-thinking because he is not Yoongi and Seungcheol isn’t Seokjin and their relationship is totally different so he can’t really compare. 

When he is back at his own desk, he fishes out his phone and types a quick text long overdue. 

 

 **You:** _We need to talk._

 

Seungcheol agrees. 

 

\-----

 

Jihoon is more than ready for it, ready to blurt out his confession but as soon as Seungcheol lays his eyes on Jihoon, he drags him into the couch (without a welcoming kiss) and makes him cuddle with him. Jihoon tries to protest but it’s warm and it feels safe to have arms around him and it makes him drowsy almost immediately. 

And when Jihoon wakes up next morning, all groggy and pain in his neck but well rested he swears he needs to stop falling asleep on Seungcheol. 

“But you looked like you needed sleep. Taehyung told me you have rough time in work, a new project starting up.” Seungcheol hums when he pours the coffee in their mugs.

“Oh, you chat about my work with Taehyung. That’s… nice. Why not ask me?” Jihoon snaps and regrets immediately when Seungcheol’s face falls. “No, sorry, I didn’t mean it like that, sorry.” “Ah, sorry for not asking but Taehyung was just blabbering about this cute co-worker of my friend and I assumed he is talking about your boss and—“

Jihoon stops listening.

 _My friend._

Jihoon feels like crying and all the energy flees his body. He is emotionally too tired to deal with this right now and he is late for work. Seungcheol drops him off and the other man lingers but Jihoon turns his back to Seungcheol and marches inside to the lobby. He doesn’t go for the elevator right away. He actually turns to see Seungcheol still there, sitting inside his car, rubbing his face almost like angrily.

They never talked. 

He is this close to go back but the Nam-something assistant spots him and he is dragged to deal with a jammed printer, again.

 

\-----

 

“Why is talking so fucking hard with him?” Jihoon nurses the half empty glass of beer between his hands, his eyes already unfocused because of the alcohol he has consumed. Soonyoung hums. Jihoon groans. “How the fuck I confess? How did you confess, why haven’t I heard of that story?”

Soonyoung gives him a look that tells him he is a bad friend. 

“You were there when we got together. It was on Jun’s birthday party, remember?” Soonyoung pauses. “No, wait, you won’t remember, sorry, that was a wild party.” Jihoon groans and bangs his head against the table; he has done it a lot recently. It’s really slow Friday night and Jihoon is amazed he got inside the bar after so many glasses of soju consumed after work with Junhyung but maybe he is more composed than he thinks. He still has two days before the end of the week to actually keep the promise he gave to Jeonghan. 

“You just blurt it out,” Jeonghan’s voice says and Jihoon turns his head to see the other man to slide into the booth with them. “And you did that?” The older man nods, sipping his drink, looking seemingly sharp and composed, but his hand that is holding the drink is shaking. “I just left Jun to deal with it.”

Soonyoung opens his mouth say something but then Jun is there, sliding next to Jeonghan, looking less sharp and composed.

“You meant it? Like, you really, really, really, meant it? Like, not like the way you love Jihoon but like… like Jihoon is in love with his nice ass man kind of way?”

“Hey!”

Jeonghan nods, not really looking at Jun who more or less is pressed against the other man’s side.

“Yeah, something like that. I’m in love with you, Jun.” 

And Jun’s answer is simple to crash their lips together. Soonyoung woops loudly. 

“Drinks on me!”

“I am leaving, this is sick.” Jihoon groans and makes a face at the new couple. Soonyoung yells something after him but Jihoon doesn’t care or want to stay. His steps stagger a bit. Maybe he is drunker than he thought. 

Maybe he should call Seungcheol? Would Seungcheol appreciate drunken phone calls? Maybe Seungcheol is up to little midnight chit-chat (blowjobs)? Maybe --

Jihoon blinks as he stares at the bar.

He would recognize that nice ass anywhere.

Jihoon feels his insides to curl and he feels sick, because there Seungcheol is, leaning against the counter and saying something to Shua and they are both smiling that gently kind of way. He watches the way Seungcheol tilts his head to the side, grinning tiredly at Shua who says something, touching gently at Seungcheol’s arm. 

Someone’s hand tries to take a hold of Jihoon’s wrist but he swats it away before making his way towards the bar, and Shua’s eyes dart on him when he is close enough. 

“Fancy seeing you here.”

Seungcheol looks a bit bewildered when he twirls around. “Uh, same to you. I thought you had something…?”

“Well you said you were busy with something, _someone_ apparently. And after that I made plans to meet with my _actual friends_ ,” Jihoon snarls and Seungcheol licks lips, pursing his lower lip a bit. At any other time that would have gotten Jihoon lip locked with the taller man but now it just makes Jihoon feel betrayed. Jeonghan and Jun are still making out somewhere behind him and everything makes Jihoon sick and annoyed and suddenly a week worth of uncertainty and stress makes him snap. 

“Are you meeting up with your actual boyfriend or something?” Jihoon snarls, nodding towards Shua whose eyes widen almost comically and Seungcheol’s mouth falls open, bewildered. “Jihoon!”

“Don’t let me interrupt but you should at least tell him we have slept together. We have slept together, did you know that?” Shua looks like he wants to say something when Jihoon wiggles his hand between him and Seungcheol but Jihoon hushes him. 

“If I had stopped to think, it would have made sense actually!”

“Jihoon, what are you talking about?” Seungcheol asks, his tone loaded with something Jihoon can’t figure out but he doesn’t care. 

“Makes sense for you to avoid me, I mean, I was fun to have around, I guess? I mean, I enjoyed, sex was great!” 

Soonyoung is there, trying to pray Jihoon off but Jihoon just swats him away (if he staggers, he doesn’t admit it). He leans closer to Seungcheol’s space, stabbing him angrily at chest. 

“It’s not like I have spend hours on stressing over us so it would have been nice to know.”

“Jihoon, stop, are—“

“No, no! Don’t let me interrupt your little chit-chat with your… oh God, fuck.”Jihoon rubs his eyes because it burns, his eyes burn from unshed tears. “Your boyfriend. I thought you were a gentleman but how wrong I was. You used me!”

Jihoon hears vaguely Soonyoung’s voice say something how he is rude as fuck but both Shua and Seungcheol just stare at him like there is the world’s biggest scam going on. Jihoon doesn’t care, he flips Seungcheol off and pushes Soonyoung away. 

He makes it a show to order only from this Kris person who is freaking tall and it annoys him too but he is to prideful to order from Shua since Seungcheol had taken his spot from his side of the desk. At some point Kris denies drinks from him, saying he had had enough but Jihoon is not that easily fooled and he steals Jun and Seokmin’s drinks when they are distracted and oh boy, he will regret this in the morning. 

He is not so sure what he slurs out and to whom, he is not sure who he tries to dance with but he does know that he declares his pathetic love for Seungcheol at someone who is gently patting his hair when he cries because fuck, love is stupid and he should never fall in love and Seungcheol is too pretty not be loved.

Jihoon passes out at someone’s lap.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remember, we don't know what's going on with Seungcheol and what he is really thinking or feeling about Jihoon. Also I'm so sorry for all the bts cameos in this one, we won't dwell on their dynamics in this story. 8D 
> 
> I have the last part almost ready to publish but I have to read it through couple of more times.


	4. -four-

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They are fools in love.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The smuttest smut scene I've ever written. Also the amount of rated fics I read to get all the grammatical stuff and such right, oh man, I did such a research I should be rewarded with PhD.

Morning comes as expected and Jihoon does regret everything.

“Where the fuck I am?” Jihoon groans and coughs because his throat feels sore. He hears a snort from somewhere close. 

“Excuse me sir, you are in my humble dormitory room.”

Jihoon lies still, staring at the ceiling. Then he turns his head a little bit and sees a young man with a round face and puffed cheeks judging him from the other side of the small room. There’s a beat of silence before Jihoon lurches up and forward but the pain in his head stings hard and he all but falls ungracefully onto the floor. 

“Oi! No running away! I got strict orders to keep you here until Seungcheol gets back.”

Seungcheol. 

Fuck. Small details come grumbling down from the depth of his memory: he tried to pick a fight with… someone and then there was crying and maybe drink throwing (that might be why he feels so sticky) and more crying and puking and… crying? 

Jihoon groans and sits up, pressing his hands against his eyes. He feels sick. He hears some rustling and then – “There is a bucket if you feel like puking. Don’t throw up on my carpet. Thank Seungcheol for cleaning your mess from the bathroom.”

“I... I am sorry” Jihoon murmurs. He doesn’t lower his hands from his eyes, his world is spinning even now. Is he still drunk? How much he actually drank last night? What about work? What day it is? 

He hears a sigh.

“I think you should get back to bed.” The young man doesn’t sound too accusing anymore, there is a gently tilt in his tone. “Sleep a bit. Every one of us makes mistakes.” He helps Jihoon back to the soft mattresses and Jihoon’s world turns black when he drifts into sleep. 

 

\-----

 

When he comes to it again, he hears talking, gently whispers of two persons. 

“Hyung, I don’t want to see you break your heart. I’m worried.”

“It will be okay, Seunggie. We will be on our way when you come back from your meeting.”

There is some whining from this Seunggie person but Seungcheol reassures him and soon there is a click of a door and then silence. Jihoon lies still, eyes closed. He almost drifts off to the dream land again but something keeps him rooted to the moment and awake. He doesn’t say a thing but neither does Seungcheol and Jihoon doesn’t know how long he lies there, in silence before he flutters his eyes open. It’s a bit dark but this time he is not lying on his back. He is on his side and Seungcheol smiles at him when he realizes he is awake. He puts down the book he has been reading and inches his chair closer. Jihoon makes a sound of dying and Seungcheol’s hand is on his hair, fingers rubbing against his skull. 

“You were so drunk last night.”

“I am so sorry. I have no idea how much I drank. Where are we?”

“At my friend’s dormitory. This is near the station by the club. You weren’t really co-operative last night when I tried to take you home.” 

Jihoon groans and closes his eyes, enjoying the gentleness of Seungcheol’s hands.

“I am sorry. I think I was so rude to you last night. That was not… I had no rights to say those things to you.”

“But you kind of had a point.” Seungcheol stops and Jihoon opens his eyes again. “Are you sober enough to have this conversation?” 

Seungcheol’s tone is gently but firm and Jihoon knows he is not sober enough. He is tired, his head hurts, his body aches all over and he feels so nasty. 

“Can we wait until the… later? What time it’s anyway?”

“Around two in the afternoon.”

“Okay. Okay, I need time to sober up more.”

“Hmm. What you want to do first? Eat? Shower?”

“Shower.”

Seungcheol nods and help him up. While Jihoon takes in his surroundings (kind of a typical college dormitory room with so many idol posters on the walls) Seungcheol offers him a set of clothes.

“I know they are probably too big for you but they are the smallest from my closet… but you will have clean clothes if nothing else. If that’s fine with you, to use mine.”  
Jihoon nods and takes the pile and Seungcheol tells him where the bathroom is and to yell if he needs anything. Jihoon thanks him and ventures to the small bathroom with an orange shower curtain which hurts his eyes. He strips down (he has dirt on his jeans, where the hell he has been crawling?) and lets the water hit his skin. It feels good, so refreshing and Jihoon closes his eyes before ducking his head under the stream. 

After he is done with the shower he picks up some clothes from the pile Seungcheol had offered to him. He pulls on a blue sweatshirt, it’s a bit big but warm. Seungcheol smiles at him when he steps out from the bathroom. 

“It doesn’t look that bad.” 

Jihoon nods hesitant of what he is supposed to do next but Seungcheol seems to pick up on his groggy, handover-ish mood. “I can make some very late breakfast, eggs and bacon okay for you?” Jihoon nods. 

He naps on the bed while Seungcheol makes them food and after the food Seungcheol tells him to sleep a little more. Jihoon curls up and falls asleep right away.

When Seungcheol wakes him up, Jihoon feels better to actually leave the house. Seungcheol grins at him. “Do you know what helps? Animal therapy!” 

And soon enough Jihoon finds himself to be pushed inside the animal center doors. He knows they are not officially open on Sundays but he hears someone talking inside the dog area and as soon as they hear them coming in, Jihoon’s eyes meet with the same man who was there when he made the donation for the kittens. 

“Oh, Seungcheol.”

“Hi Yoseob, how are the dogs?”

“Good, I was just giving them some food. Taehyung will be here later to give them the jog, you know, being the personal trainer for Holly,” Yoseob rolls his eyes and Seungcheol snorts and Jihoon feels like he has heard that name before somewhere. The other shelter worker nods towards Jihoon who is half hiding behind Seungcheol. “A private viewing?”

“Ah, we are heading… dogs or cats?” Seungcheol turns to Jihoon who shrugs, trying not to catch Yoseob’s eye. Yoseob hums, arching his eyebrow at them. “I think you should show him the kittens. I mean, he was the one who donated the sum for them.”

Seungcheol blinks and Jihoon realizes that of course Yoseob would remember him, even if the donator’s name was kept secret. 

“You are that donator? Why didn’t you tell me?” 

“I… I don’t know”, Jihoon’s shoulders slump and Yoseob laughs nervously. 

“Those kittens are best. I will keep feeding the dogs, have fun with the kittens.” And with that he turns around and returns to the dog area and is met with barks. Seungcheol doesn’t ask but takes a hold of his wrist and takes Jihoon into another room, where instant meowing hits their ears. 

Seungcheol laughs and blabbers something to the cats they pass by and then they stop by one of the biggest area and Jihoon takes in a shaky breathe. There are ten kittens in total and Jihoon watches as one of them flutters is eyes open and meows quietly. They’ve grown since. One after another the kittens wake up and come closer the door which Seungcheol has opened. He smiles at Jihoon.

“You can touch them.”

Jihoon actually cries when he gets to hold one of the kittens. Seungcheol laughs fondly at him and Jihoon wonders what went right last night for him to get Seungcheol to be with him right now. He was a dick, if he recalls correctly. 

But he doesn’t question it, he takes it all and they sit down, letting the kittens crawl around them.

They stay like that for a while; a brown cat settles near Jihoon’s left foot and falls asleep. Two cats crawl into his lap and Jihoon catches Seungcheol’s eyes, when he smiles at him, while petting a cat by his knee. 

There is a lump in Jihoon throat and he hopes Seungcheol knows how to start this conversation they need to have. Seungcheol pats the kitten in his lap.

“I… I don’t know where to actually start this.”

“Me neither. There is so much of what we should have talked. Like ages ago”, Jihoon agrees and Seungcheol hums, not meeting his eyes, staring down at the kittens. Jihoon licks his dry lips and takes a deep breath. 

“I weren’t on my right mind yesterday. I was… drunk. And I can’t… I’m sorry I assumed you and Shua are a couple. But if you are, I…” 

“I and Joshua are childhood friends,” Seungcheol interrupts him and air leaves Jihoon’s lungs. He truly was an asshole. Seungcheol still doesn’t meet his eyes even thou he is looking at his direction. “There has never been anything more than friendship between me and Shua,” he continues, tentatively, wording everything so carefully it makes Jihoon feel sick. Jihoon groans, closing his eyes. “I should probably apologies to him next time.”

“Probably. But I understand you. We sometimes look like we could be a couple. And… yeah, you weren’t on your right mind last night.”

“I was not.”

There is a beat of silence between them before Jihoon sighs.

“But you have to admit that I had all the rights to feel like that. You were avoiding me and I just… snapped.”

Seungcheol licks his lips, rubbing behind the kitten’s ear. Jihoon waits. Soon enough Seungcheol sighs and meets his eyes directly.

“At first, I thought there would really be nothing more than sex between us. I mean, obviously, your aim was to get into my pants. All that have you met my friend –talk.” Seungcheol makes a pretty accurate imitation of Jeonghan and Jihoon snorts at that. Seungcheol’s smile is wide but somewhat bitter. “But we didn’t hook up that night.” 

It sounds so accusatory that Jihoon almost cringes. 

“And even if we did hook up later more often than not, it suddenly started to get so domestic and sweet and I kind of panicked.” Seungcheol smiles tiredly. “Now that I think about it, it was probably because of me.”

“Well if it makes you feel any better, you are a great cuddle buddy.” 

Seungcheol snorts and Jihoon smiles a little, ducking his head a bit. 

“I started to want more of it and it escalated pretty quickly. Maybe it was a bad choice from me to start saying no to you but Seungkwan was being persistent when saying I should stop seeing you but I liked to text with you and… yeah.”

“Who is Seungkwan actually?”

“Ah, I was his tutor in… when I was in high school and he was in a middle school. He stuck around.” There is a lazy, adoring smile on Seungcheol’s face. “We borrowed his dormitory for the night.”

“Ah, okay. Not the best first impression.”

Seungcheol snorts, shaking his head. “No, not really.”

There is a beat of silence between them and Jihoon’s heart is hammering in his chest. “So… if I’m interpreting everything you’ve said so far correctly, you… you started having feelings for me?” 

Seungcheol snorts. 

“Maybe somewhere between stupid selfies and breakfast dates. And if I interpret your outburst from the last night correctly, you did so too.” 

Jihoon groans, tears burning somewhere behind his eyes. He almost laughs out loud when he says: “so we both started to have feelings for one other but…we didn’t really know what to with the situation.”

Seungcheol shrugs. “Basically. And now we are here.”

There is something clipped in Seungcheol’s tone but Jihoon can’t really figure it out. Nonetheless he decides to take a lead of faith and Jihoon takes a deep breath. “Did I ruin everything last night? Is there no more changes… to get together?”

Seungcheol’s eyes widen as he stares at Jihoon. 

Jihoon rubs his face. “I mean, I was an idiot and accused you of cheating and I probably said things I shouldn’t have and…”

“I am not so sure about things you shouldn’t have said but you did indeed say things.”

Jihoon makes a face. “What does that mean?”

Seungcheol hums and Jihoon groans and decides to take Jeonghan’s advice and blurt out the confession. “God, fuck, okay, I do like you, a lot, maybe it’s too soon but what have I to lose, we have fucked and cuddled and shit, I might love you and are up for a real date-date at some point?”

Seungcheol blinks at him, totally caught off guard and Jihoon fears that this wasn’t the right time or place but then Seungcheol’s face melts into something so sweet and cute and fuck, Jihoon wants to kiss him so badly, when was the last time they even kissed? 

“Yeah, I’m up for a date, alright. And I might like you too, a little bit.” he squints his eyes and Jihoon swats his arm. “Stop teasing me.”

“Sorry. I just… thought you wouldn’t say it this soon.”

“…say what?”

Seungcheol answers by pulling out his phone. He fiddles with a bit and then Jihoon hears his own, drunken voice echo through to speakers: _“You are so fucking gorgeous I just can’t…. can’t… where is your face I need to touch your face… like you your nose… so lovely nose…"_

“Where was Soonyoung? Best friend don’t let best friend embarrass themselves like that!” Jihoon groans but Seungcheol just smiles and hushes him. 

_“Can I kiss you, no I don’t wanna kiss you, I am sad at you… mad, sad, either way. God, you are so nice! I love you love like a fool. Love hurts, it hurts so much, you hurt me because I love you man.”_

_“Oh wow, Jihoon don’t fall wait don’t—“_

_“Look, you make my world turn upside down!”_

_“Jihoon, stay up!”_

Jihoon groans when Seungcheol stops the recording. “Then you proceeded to dance but that was just sad and to your question about Soonyoung… he just dumped you on me when you were drunk enough not to really care who you were with, saying I should fix it.”

Jihoon rubs his eyes but there is a smile threatening to make its way to his face and Seungcheol giggles. 

“We are kind of stupid.”

“We are.”

The just sit there, petting the kittens before Seungcheol inches closer and Jihoon meets him half way for the kiss. 

It’s nothing like before. It feels so soft and genuine and fond and Jihoon just wants to melt. A kitten meows and Seungcheol’s pulls back, leaning their foreheads together. Jihoon feels like home.

 

\----

 

They set up a date for a next Wednesday. Nothing fancy, just a dinner after Jihoon’s work. Yoongi gives him thumb ups when he leaves (early, because Yoongi is generous for some reason) and Jihoon feels the same excitement he felt at the first date he actually had with Seungcheol, without missing the damn green light twice this time. Seungcheol picks him up from the work and they just giggle through the ride to the restaurant. Nothing fancy, just your average Chinese restaurant down the street. 

It feels weird, because they do know each other. There is no awkward get to know you speeches and questions, no. There is giggles, hand holding and gently whispers. It feels like they’ve dated for ages and not just labeled themselves as fuck buddies for months. 

It’s almost surreal but Jihoon doesn’t question it, how easy it is really to be with Seungcheol. And if he thinks back, he loved their breakfast dates the most so Jihoon enjoys this dinner date too. Seungcheol offers to drop him off afterwards and they keep glancing at each other’s direction during the drive. 

Seungcheol doesn’t even ask, he just parks the car when they arrive at Jihoon’s apartment building and leans over the middle console of the car and kisses Jihoon, and Jihoon just tells him to stay for the night. 

Everything is so slow, the way the elevator makes its way up, the way Jihoon pulls Seungcheol towards his apartment, the way the door closes behind them and the way Seungcheol kisses him.

Seungcheol pushes Jihoon’s shirt over his shoulders and Jihoon bundles up Seungcheol’s shirt and over his head. His hands find their way into Seungcheol’s hair and he tugs. The noises Seungcheol makes get shivers running down Jihoon’s spine. 

It’s really nothing new to them but something about it so overwhelming that Jihoon has to break free from the kisses more often to catch his breath. Seungcheol just smiles at him, not letting their mouths to be apart for long.

Jihoon tilts his head back and allowing himself a soft moan when Seungcheol seizes the opportunity to muffle his own grunts against Jihoon’s collarbone. Before Seungcheol never left marks on his skin, but now Jihoon can feel the older man suck a mark there, in the juncture of his shoulder and neck. Jihoon feels drowsy, his mouth falling open, all while their bodies still move against each other in a lazy rhythm, like it’s some sort of dance. 

Seungcheol’s palms press against his back, slowly moving down and Jihoon is a bit embarrassed by the noise he makes (such a low and needy whimper) when Seungcheol’s hands slide into his opened pants and squeezes his ass. Seungcheol lets out an airy laugh, his hot breath ghosting over Jihoon’s skin and that’s when Jihoon decides to grind down with more force than before, because hell, Seungcheol shouldn’t be laughing at him, and he is pleased then Seungcheol chokes. 

“Fuck.”

Jihoon hums, his lips finding Seungcheol’s jaw and leaving a wet trail there. Seungcheol fondles with his ass and ohgodohgod’s leave Jihoon’s mouth when Seungcheol’s fingertips press hard against his skin. It’s not the first time they do something like this but after everything, now that they are clear with their feelings and such, even the smallest touch of Seungcheol’s fingers feel so much more intense than ever before. 

Jihoon is whiny, he can’t really control it anymore because fuck, he wants Seungcheol inside him more than he has ever wanted, and just to make a point, Jihoon navigates his hands in between them and presses them hard against Seungcheol’s clothed cock (why they still have their pants on, is a question Jihoon wants an answer to). That makes Seungcheol groan low and he feels the fingers to leave his skin to help him get rid of his pants and underwear. While Seungcheol kicks his own remaining clothes off, Jihoon reaches out towards the nightstand, to find the lube. 

It feels so long, the wait before Jihoon finally gets to feel Seungcheol’s now lube covered fingers on him. Even thou they hadn’t done it in a week or two or so, it’s good, it’s easy, the way Seungcheol’s first finger pushes in, slowly, meeting so little resistance that he soon starts moving it back out and thrusting gently.

“Hey, breathe.”

Jihoon gasps, letting his eyes fall shut when Seungcheol adds a second finger. Jihoon rolls his hips against Seungcheol and the other man hums against his neck, teeth scraping. The stretch is gentle, and a soft burn up his spine is less like pain and more like embers of a fire waiting to flare up. And because Seungcheol knows all the right angles and ways to get Jihoon suck in a sharp breath and arch his back, Jihoon knows this will end him being totally wrecked. 

The third finger burns a little more, but Jihoon is too far gone to care. Seungcheol keeps it slow, his free hand rubbing soothing circles on Jihoon’s thigh. It all makes him quiver and jerk his hips for more friction. His hands wander, scratching even because he just needs more, more anything, just more. 

“Okay?” Seungcheol’s voice booms from somewhere, raspy and a bit breathless, like the other man has been trying to hold his air in even thou Jihoon’s lips has been busy mapping his jaw and neck, collarbones, nipping and sucking, and licking. 

Jihoon tries to answer anything else than a needy moan, he would really, really want to just nod and get on with it but yet again, his mouth filter doesn’t get the memo and _yespleasefuckyes_ leaves his mouth. 

Seungcheol gets the point anyway.

Jihoon doesn’t even know when and how the condom got there and from where but that’s not really relevant, because Seungcheol is holding his hips and “godfuckyes” when inch by inch, he is lowered down on Seungcheol’s cock. It’s bliss, so great that Jihoon feels dizzy.

His own moan gets lost in the shaky groan floating out of Seungcheol’s mouth. The drag, the push and pull is just so slow and too much for Jihoon to handle, his legs are starting to tremble, so he tries to speed up his gyrating of hips but it’s a mess and Jihoon gasps when his world tilts.

Jihoon is on his back, his legs are around Seungcheol’s middle, and the other man’s right hand feels so warm against his thigh, and he gasps out loudly. Seungcheol does something with his hips and that makes Jihoon lose his vision, his mind, his everything. 

“Holy—yes!” it’s more of a plea than a whisper and Seungcheol dares to laugh at him, again but Jihoon forgives him because the brush of teeth against his skin is feverish, Seungcheol’s both hands on his hips, and _“godyesyesthere”_ when Seungcheol keeps thrusting into him steadily. The air around them his filled with choked moans and desperate groans and Jihoon remembers briefly that he has a meeting tomorrow, will he be able to speak, will there be marks, but the thought of it is long gone when Seungcheol changes his pace and Jihoon’s world spins. 

Jihoon’s hands find Seungcheol’s hair again, clutching the soft strands and a groan leaves Seungcheol’s mouth, rumbling against Jihoon’s skin. Seungcheol’s hand holding his thigh grips tighter nails digging into his skin. 

Jihoon feels hot all over; his skin is on fire and Seungcheol’s fingers burn against his skin. It’s so good, the fire inside his body, and Jihoon would love to be devoured by the flames. Seungcheol’s breath comes in ragged gasps and his voice is breaking around the edges, his hips rhythm falling out. It’s getting more desperate, more needing to cross over the edge and Jihoon couldn’t agree more.

Their chase for the release is short because Jihoon can’t really even progress it when Seungcheol’s other hand leaves his hip and wraps around his throbbing cock and that’s it. Jihoon is a goner.

The climax is more and everything they have ever experienced together before, Jihoon’s mind filled with waves of whiteness and static. He registers some gibberish to leave Seungcheol’s mouth near his ear but he can’t grasp the meaning of them. Jihoon doesn’t know what he himself sputtering out maybe curses, maybe ‘I love you’s, who knows. 

It’s so dizzy, oh so lovely dizzy. And it’s fucking great. 

 

\----

 

Jihoon squints his eyes at their friend group’s regular table before he gets his drink from Shua (god, it had been so awkward, the apology but Shua forgave him and he can now order his drinks without a fear of getting poisoned). Jihoon holds his beer close to his body when he makes his way through the crowd and hopes no one will bump into him and make him spill his drink. He slides safely to the free spot next to Seungcheol who is sipping his own beer, his eyes observing the couple on the other side of the table to really care about Jihoon’s presence but Jun at least has civility to nod at Jihoon’s direction. 

This is supposed to be boys’ night out, no boyfriends, escorts, hookers, whatever but – Jihoon stops his thought there. What’s the point, they are bunch of friends with boyfriends. He will still skin Jeonghan alive if he is holding Jun’s dick under the table, ew.

Soonyoung makes his presence loud and clear, followed by as loud Seokmin. Jihoon rolls his eyes but Seungcheol’s smile at them is kind of endearing, like he is fond of Jihoon’s friends, like they are his friends too. It’s the same look Jihoon had seen him to look at the damn puppies. 

It’s a nice night and Jihoon feels giggly and happy. The noise dies down a little when Soonyoung is lost to the crowd and Jun is chatting up with Kris by the bar. Jeonghan chats with Seungcheol for a while but Seokmin’s whining distracts him so Seungcheol turns to Jihoon, grinning with dimples and all. 

“Hey you, do you have a moment?”

Jihoon leans closer, arching his eyebrow questioningly. 

Seungcheol giggles, his hand sliding upper against Jihoon’s thigh. “Have you met my boyfriend Jihoon?” 

Jihoon blinks at him and Seungcheol burst into a wild laughter, tilting his head against Jihoon’s shoulder. “Oh man, you should see your face!” Returning Jun slides a cocktail (with a frilly umbrella) towards Jihoon who flips him off while smiling fondly at Seungcheol.

“Are you being lame?” 

Seungcheol laughs, leaning his head against Jihoon and Jihoon can tell he is drunk from the way his eyes dart to the sides a little bit too much, unfocused. 

“I really love my boyfriend Jihoon.” 

Jihoon tries to prevent the smile but he is a fool in love so it’s useless and the way Seungcheol’s eyes crinkle under the dim light makes Jihoon’s heart skip a beat. There has always been a little something in Seungcheol that makes Jihoon feel so loved and appreciated. 

Seungcheol giggles and takes a hold his hand under the table, pressing himself so close to Jihoon that Jeonghan wiggles his eyebrow suggestively at them. Jihoon ignores him but he kicks Jun’s shin when the Chinese man makes a vulgar hand motion. Seungcheol just laughs, the huffs of his breath tickling Jihoon’s skin. Jihoon should probably thank Jeonghan and his bad punchline for this happiness he is feeling.

“Hey you, I love you too.”

-The End

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've said before how this was supposed to be a one-shot fic of glorious one-night stand thing but things happened, bad tropes happened and here we are, four chapters later. It's done and I have so many feels about this fic ugh. Now I can focus on that super angsty snk!au I've been working on and 5+1 sequel (if I do well, I might have it out for the anniversary but idk). 
> 
> Thank you for all of you who have supported this with comments and kudos, you are loved~~!! <3 <3
> 
> ps. hey, you who enjoyed all the tiny taegi moments in this: [I'm writing a taegi side-story](http://archiveofourown.org/works/12341493/chapters/28067892)

**Author's Note:**

> Funny notes:  
> 1) there was this sentence of "the tray full of beers". I kept adding and deleting that 's' at the end because I had no idea which was proper and I spend too much time thinking about it. Google told me both are okay. B'D  
> 2)I truly tried to keep Taegi out of this but. Something happened.  
> 3) [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfpcf6XnLMw) is a story of mister Kim and Ddabong. It is sad. :( (it's happening in 1.10-5.00 marks and then 7.20-10.50) that's like really old SJ stuff oh man. 
> 
> I always appreciate kudos and comments and any sort of feedback. ;w;  
> I am also starting a new job next week and even thou I have most of the story ready, I don't know when I will have time to edit the rest. D:


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